Worlds to Esbjerg, Gruyère is back

Some newbytes today from The Fed, otherwise known as the World Curling Federation.

WCF has announced that the City of Esbjerg, Demark (photo by Galen R. Frysinger) will host the Capital One World Women’s Curling Championship in 2011.

The event will be staged in the heart of the North Sea harbour city, Denmark’s fifth-largest, in an ice arena complex from March 19-27 in 2011.

“The World Curling Federation is delighted to announce that the Capital One World Women’s Curling Championship 2011 will take place in Denmark” said Les Harrison, WCF President.

Speaking on the fringe of the Olympic Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark where the official announcement was made, Harrison added: “The choice of Esbjerg is recognition of the outstanding achievements and contributions made by Danish curlers and the Danish Curling Association to the development of curling at an international level in recent years.”

The Danish women’s team, skipped by Angelina Jensen, won the bronze medal at the Mount Titlis World Women’s Curling Championship 2009 in Gangneung, Korea and also scored silver at the 2007 Worlds in Aomori, Japan. Denmark has qualified to send men’s and women’s curling teams to the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver in February 2010.

Meanwhile, Swiss-based cheese titan Le Gruyère has renewed its WCF partnership, and will continue to sponsor the Le Gruyère European Championships over the next two years, starting with the 2009 shootout in Aberdeen, Scotland in December and the 2010 competition in Champéry, Switzerland.

Bruno Marty, representing the WCF agency Infront, said: “The partnership between WCF and Infront is proving itself to the satisfaction of both parties. In our first year of involvement, all sponsorship inventories have been sold and television coverage is increasing. We are pleased at this convincing demonstration of the value of working with an experienced sports marketing company – the WCF is assured of financial stability to support future growth in the sport.”

The Gruyère announcement can be read here, while the Danish Worlds announcement can be seen here.

2010 Olympic curling schedule

The World Curling Federation has released the draw for the Curling Competition at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

The draw is available via direct download at the WCF homepage, within the posting dated July 28.

Competition begins February 16 with three draws scheduled daily – alternating between men’s and women’s play – up to February 23.

Canada’s women’s team, which will be determined on December 12 in Edmonton, opens at 14:00 against Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott, the only curling athlete in history with two Olympic medals (silver in both 2002 and 2006).

Canada continues with matches against Japan on Feb. 17, Germany on Feb. 18 and Denmark’s Angelina Jensen, the 2007 world finalist, on Feb. 19.

Canada’s major crunch comes on the final three days of the round robin.

On Feb. 21, Canada battles 2003 world champion Debbie McCormick of the United States and, later, defending world champion Bingyu Wang of China.

On Feb. 22, their opponent is the defending Olympic champion and two-time world champion Anette Norberg of Sweden.

On Feb. 23, the Canadian women face another two matches, against Great Britain – most likely skipped by three-time world junior champion Eve Muirhead – followed by the round robin finale against 2006 European champions Russia.

The Canadian women do not compete on Saturday, February 20.

Canada’s men’s team, which will be determined on December 13 in Edmonton, opens with two matches on Feb. 16, against Norway (most likely 2008 and 2009 world bronze medallist Thomas Ulsrud) and Germany’s Andy Kapp, a two-time Olympian and multiple world finalist.

Following a full day off on February 17, the Canadians face two next-day opponents: Sweden (most likely the defending world university champions skipped by Niklas Edin) and then France’s Thomas Dufour.

On Feb. 19, Canada challenges Denmark’s Ulrik Schmidt.

On Feb. 20, Canada faces Great Britain’s David Murdoch, the two-time and defending world champion, in the evening draw. Murdoch defeated Canada’s Kevin Martin three consecutive times to win last April’s 2009 Ford World Men’s Championship in Moncton, and as reported by The Curling News, has been training specifically to defeat Canada for Olympic gold at Vancouver.

Canada then battles Switzerland on Feb. 21. The Swiss defeated Canada for Olympic gold at Nagano in 1998 and captured bronze at Salt Lake in 2002, and also scored demonstration gold at the 1992 Games in Albertville.

On Feb. 22 the Canadians meet John Shuster of the United States. Shuster was a member of the 2006 U.S. Olympic curling team, skipped by Pete Fenson, which scored the bronze medal.

On Feb. 23, Canada concludes the round robin with an afternoon match against China’s Fengchun Wang, the surprise fourth-place finisher at the 2008 world championship. This will mark the fourth consecutive day in which the Canadian men’s team competes only once.

February 24 is reserved for tiebreakers with the semifinals scheduled for February 25.

The Women’s Final takes place February 26 and the Men’s Final on February 27.

Canada has never missed the podium in Olympic medal-status competition, winning gold in 1998 (women’s) and 2006 (men’s) while scoring two silver medals in men’s play and two bronze medals in women’s play.

Venue photo by the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation

Boat on the Hill

GANGNEUNG, Korea – Have you heard about the boat on the hill?

Yep, the Sun Cruise Hotel is one of the host hotels here at the Mount Titlis Women’s World Championship 2009, and apart from some iffy wine choices, the place is utterly spectacular.

True, the concept of designing and building a landlocked cruise liner for a hotel seems a bit odd. But everything from the rooms (with heated floors) to the grounds – full of walking gardens and sculptures etc. – to the breathtaking views of the Sea of Japan is simply... well, breathtaking.

Hotel website located here.

On the ice, China’s Bingyu Wang just defeated Denmark’s Angelina Jensen in the 1 versus 2 playoff by a 6-3 score. The Chinese will appear in their second straight world final on Sunday.

Tomorrow it’s Canada versus Sweden in a battle of women’s curling titans, with the victor battling the Danes in the evening’s semifinal.

The World Curling Federation game summary should be posted shortly.