Coquitlam’s Hayato Sato fell just short of leading his Royal City rink to a provincial U18 curling championship.
Sato lost Sunday’s final at the Juan de Fuca curling centre in Victoria, 9-4, to Erik Colwell’s Kamloops/Vernon/Invermere foursome.
Sato, supported by third Joshua Miki of Port Coquitlam, as well as Surrey’s Dawson Ballard and Burnaby’s Troy Chong, earned a bye into the championship draw after finished preliminary play with six wins and one loss. One of those wins was against Colwell, 8-4.
In the final, Sato had the early advantage after scoring two in the first end, but Colwell scored two in the third and two more in the fourth to go up 4-2.
Sato fought back to tie it in the sixth end then relinquished the lead again when Colwell scored one in the seventh end. They then salted it away by scoring four in the eighth end.
Colwell’s rink will go on to represent British Columbia at the U18 national championships which are being held at the Glen Allan recreation complex in Sherwood Park, Alta., April 2-7.
