Eighth end curling magic

Rare quad-and-raise caps Pacific Rim curling event

Don Fennell, Sports Editor

Gibson's Jared Wanna-

maker counted three in the eighth on his way to a 6-4 victory over Wes Johnson of Seattle in the final of the 16-team Pacific Rim curling tournament at the Richmond Curling Club. And Richmond's Ken Watson simply left fans in awe as he made the mostly unlikely of shots en route to a 6-3 win over Kamloops' Tony Silveria in the bronze medal game.

Watson was facing four rocks clustered around the four-foot circle, with one of his opponent's rocks out front guarding. A draw shot was impossible and spectators thought the best he could hope for was to get rid of two rocks in the house and hope Silveria couldn't count more than three. Instead, Watson threw a bazooka, hit the guard and removed all four rocks in the house - and the guard - giving Silveria nothing to do but throw though for a blank end.

"Those are just routine, aren't they?," Watson laughed of the very rare quad-and-raise shot.

"We were playing that (though)," he said. "We thought if we hit it right they'd all go but it was pretty lucky to do that. The bonus was getting the one I raised straight back out."

Watson, who won the senior national mixed curling championship a couple years ago, said he can't remember the last time he saw a shot like that. But he said it certainly helped make the season.

"Both teams were pretty aggressive teams and we just played it the way normally you play nowadays," Watson said. "It was almost like a super league or playdown kind of a game, lots rocks in play and aggressiveness."

Watson, whose club rink included third Terry Miller, second Jim Mann and lead Daryl Busser, had seemed headed for a first-place showdown after going 7-0 to top the A side of the tournament draw. But an 8-5 loss to Wannamaker in semifinal play Sunday morning squashed any plans of a title celebration.

Wannamaker and Johnson were second in their respective pools, both at 5-2, but seemed to gain momentum as the tournament went along. Wannamaker reached the semifinals by edging Ken Persinger of Fairbanks, Alaska 6-5 in a B pool tie-breaker Saturday, while Johnson was an 8-7 winner over Darrell Hunter of Peace Arch in the A pool tie-breaker and then shaded Silveria 7-6 in the semifinals.

Like Watson, Silveria was undefeated heading into the seventh draw against Persinger - a game that went down to last rock. Silveria had an angle double raise tap to move out the red counter and sit two to tie the game but it wasn't to be.

Tim Enno, who organizes senior curling in Richmond, has coached the Taiwanese team at the Pacific International Cup since the tournament began three years ago. The team of local university students hadn't curled at all prior to entering the event, but has made steady progress.

"I think curling has to become international if it's going to survive because you can't have a sport in just one country and call it a national sport," Enno said. "This is part of (the reason) to have an event like this. The more exposure you give a sport the better off you are."

Enno said the organizing committee is looking at expanding next year, possibly inviting teams from outside the Pacific Rim as well.

"Some European countries may want to come over and play in a meaningful bonspiel to gather experience toward the worlds and things like that," he said.