One down, six to go for Scott Sherba and his Kelly Cup crew.
The 41-year-old skip nailed down his first win in the 84th annual men's curling bonspiel Wednesday night at the Prince George Golf and Curling Club, defeating Ken Pedersen 8-7.
"We squeaked one out, I had to draw to the four-foot to win," Sherba said. "It's good to get that first win."
Sherba has a long history in the Kelly Cup. The son of former Brier competitor Pete Sherba Sr. started playing in the Kelly when he was 16 and has missed just two since then. Like everybody associated with the event, he never expected the entry list to drop to just 30 teams, as it is this year.
"It is a little disappointing we don't have more teams," Sherba said. "Hopefully next year we can bring those numbers back up."
Sherba and his team of third Chris Pallot, second Ken Miscovitch and lead George Hackle will face Michael Dahms today at 9 a.m. Dahms defeated Bill Lim in the opening draw Wednesday.
In a repeat of last year's Kelly Cup final, Mel McMillan exacted revenge on Bill Fisher, running the defending champions out of rocks on the way to a 7-5 win.
In other opening draw results, Rick Fewster defeated Owen Mathison, Fred May topped Rob Prideaux, Garnet Boese beat Wilf Peckham, and Fred Hofferd edged Dan Ernewein.
Draws are scheduled today for 9 a.m., noon, 3 and 7 p.m.
The first Kelly Cup round qualifier begins Saturday at 8 a.m.
Finals will played Sunday starting at 3:30 p.m.
