Brent Yamada’s Kamloops rink didn’t have the start it wanted at the Canadian Direct Insurance B.C. men’s curling championship in Parksville on Wednesday.

The rink opened the 16-team triple-knockout event with an 11-5 loss to Sean Geall of New Westminster, before losing 10-4 to Kimberley’s Tom Buchy last night. Buchy had opened with an 8-2 loss to Victoria’s Jason Montgomery.

The losses drop Yamada to the C event, meaning that he will be out of the playdown with another loss. The rink, featuring Corey Sauer at third, Doug Murdoch at second and Lance Yamada at lead, will play this afternoon.

Jim Cotter, a Kamloops native now skipping a Kelowna/Vernon entry, split his Wednesday games. The Cotter crew opened with a 12-3 victory over White Rock’s Richard Brower — Cotter scored six in the ninth to put it away — before losing 8-5 to Andy Bilesky of New Westminster.

Cotter is to play Jay Wakefield of New Westminster in a B event game today. The B final is scheduled for Friday.

The winners of the A and B events will play in Saturday’s Page playoff game. The winner will move into Sunday’s final, with the loser to play in the semifinal against the winner of a quarterfinal between the two C qualifiers.

The provincial champion will wear B.C.’s  colours at the Tim Hortons Brier in Edmonton from March 2-10. Cotter is the two-time defending provincial champion.