It’s the final day of action at the annual Vernon Prestige Curling Classic Cashspiel at the Vernon Curling Club.
Action started at 9 a.m. Sunday with the women’s quarterfinals and a men’s tiebreaker to get into the final four.
Semifinals go at 12 p.m. The men’s final will begin at 3 p.m. and the women’s championship starts at 4 p.m.
On the ice Sunday morning, Corryn Brown of Kamloops is taking on defending Classic champ Alina Kovaleva of Russia with the winner to play two-time World junior champion Kelsey Rocque of Edmonton in a 12 p.m. semifinal, and Sarah Wark of Abbotsford facing Germany’s Daniela Jentsch for a semifinal berth at noon against defending Canadian Women’s Scotties champion Chelsea Carey of Calgary.
READ MORE: $40K up for grabs at Vernon’s Prestige Classic Cashspiel
Vernon’s Jim Cotter has secured a spot in the men’s semifinal at noon. He’ll take on Jeff Richard of Kelowna. Two-time defending World Junior champion and 2016 Prestige Classic winner Tyler Tardi of Langley will face New Westminster’s Daniel Wenzek in the other 12 p.m. semifinal. Wenzek defeated Penticton’s Matt Tolley 5-1 in a Sunday morning tiebreaker.
Cotter went 3-1 in his five-team pool to qualify for the semis. The reigning B.C. Men’s champ, backed by Steve Laycock at third, new second player Andrew Nerpin and veteran lead Rick Sawatsky, opened with a 6-5 win over Yusuke Morozumi of Japan, then knocked off Richard 4-3 before falling 7-6 to Tolley.
Cotter advanced to the semis with a 3-1 win over clubmate, reigning B.C. Junior Men’s silver medalist, Erik Colwell, who went winless at the Classic.
Colwell, backed by third Mitchell Kopytko, second Ben Morin and lead Logan Miron, opened with a 9-4 defeat to Tolley, fell 10-3 to Morozumi, lost 8-1 to Cotter and closed with an 8-1 setback to Richard.
In the 18-team women’s draw, Vernon’s Morgayne Eby went 3-2 while Kim Slattery was 1-4.
Eby, playing with third Randi Ludwar, second Kristina Little and lead Melissa Webster, began with a 6-3 loss to Wark, but bounced back to rattle Miki Hayashi of Japan 8-2. Eby then fell 7-4 to Carey, rebounded to defeat Brette Richards of Kelowna 8-6 and ended with an 8-7 over Mariah Coloumbe of Victoria.
Slattery, supported by third Alyssa Kyllo, second Sheila Cowan and lead Shaina McGiverin, opened the Classic with a 5-2 loss to Karla Thompson of Kamloops, then got back to .500 with a 6-4 win over Sarah Daniels of Delta. Slattery lost 8-4 to Kovaleva and ended the event with a 6-4 setback to Rocque.
The women’s champion will pocket $7,000, the runner-up gets $5,000 and the semifinal losers will earn $4,000.
Top prize on the men’s side is $4,000. Second-place receives a $3,000 cheque and the semifinalists each earn $2,000.
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