Curling together for the first time was not a problem for Shelley Birston and her team.
The women鈥檚 rink from the 麻豆传媒映画Curling Club reached the final in the Mainland B.C. Cup Challenge, held at the Richmond Curling Centre April 11 to 13. They finished second to qualify for the Pacific International Challenge, which will be held at the same rink April 16 to 20.
The gold-medal game against team Langlands from Cloverdale was a highlight for skip Birston and her team of Allison DenToom, Siobhan Holladay and Krista Frazee.
听鈥淚t was competitive but at that point we already knew that we qualified, so we just played that game and had fun,鈥� Birston said. They lost 8-3 to Cloverdale.
A win over the team from Golden Ears in the semifinal earlier that day clinched their spot in the PIC since the top three teams advance. Birston said the win demanded intense focus.
鈥淚n curling you never know that you have it all the time. Anything can happen even at the club level,鈥� Birston explained.听 鈥淵ou just hope you have a decent game and that the sweepers are calling the right weights.鈥�
They narrowly reached the semifinal. After the round robin, Birston鈥檚 team was tied with the Richmond rink but in a tiebreaker, they pulled off a 6-5 win against the home team.
They carried that momentum into the semifinal.
鈥淚t feels extremely good,鈥� said Birston. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of hard work but at the end of the year, we have a chance to get entered into the Pacific International. So we鈥檙e very pleased that we鈥檝e done so well.鈥�
The tournament was the first time the foursome competed together. Birston and Frazee had played together before but had never competed with Dentoom or Holladay. The four women play in the Thursday night league at the 麻豆传媒映画Curling Club and agreed to form a team specifically for the Mainland B.C. Challenge Cup.
Earlier this month, Birston defended a national title with a co-ed team and became a three-time Canadian Gay Curling Champion.
She said the women鈥檚 team came together at the Challenge Cup and thrived under pressure.
鈥淚t was so easy to play as a team, we all clicked together,鈥� said Birston. 鈥淲e practised so we could feel out each other鈥檚 releases and sweeping abilities, but it was easy right from the very start.鈥�
The team will face stiff competition at the 15th annual PIC, where they will play against teams from around British Columbia. The top eight teams in the province will compete for three playoff spots with the winner going on to face an international team in the tournament final.听
鈥淥ur goal is play well, play solid games, be in the top 3. We want to give our team a chance to be the champion,鈥� said Birston.
Teams from across North America as well as China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea will be competing at the PIC for this year鈥檚 title.
Birston has been on the ice for 20 years and said she鈥檚 the best games feel effortless.
鈥淐urling is never supposed to be work,鈥� she said.
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