Team China tours Canada

China’s defending world women’s champions were in Toronto last weekend before heading to the Shorty Jenkins Classic tour stop in Brockville, Ontario, which began last night (with an 8-4 Chinese win).

The purpose was a video shoot with the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) which took them on a jaunt to Niagara Falls, the Toronto Islands, the Bata Museum and, of course, many stores for much shopping.

And, as the Jeff Speed photo indicates, they visited the Hockey Hall of Fame, and gave the venerable Stanley Cup a giant hug. To the viewer’s left of the Cup we have Yin Liu (above) and Qingshuang Yue, and on the viewer’s right we have Yan Zhou (above) and the skipper, Bingyu “Betty” Wang.

Betty’s father, Da Jun Wang, was also flown in from China to take part in the mostly urban-exploration TV shoot.

“Our big mandate within the Olympic Games is that this really is Canada’s games,” explained the CTC’s John Parker-Jervis.

“The goal is to get this footage into key travel markets through the media. It’s a human interest story, filmed in High-Definition, and this (team China) footage will go to their state broadcaster, CCTV.”

Parker-Jervis said the campagin focusses on nine key markets: the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, France, Mexico, Japan, China, South Korea and Australia.

“We have (targeted) two countries as emerging markets, India and Brazil,” he added.

For a non-curling example, Parker-Jervis told the story of Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, the only African athlete set to compete in Vancouver. The skiier has become a celebrity in the UK, where he lives, and as such, that particular CTC footage will be sent to the BBC.

“We’re excited to have curling’s world champions travelling in Canada,” said Michele McKenzie, president and CEO of the Canadian Tourism Commission.

“They have become big stars and having them here helps spread our tourism message to their fans in China and around the world.”

As regular readers of The Curling News are aware, Chinese teams compete in Canada extensively each year from September to November, and again in January and February, prior to the major global competitions.

There are two other Chinese teams in action in Edmonton this weekend, Fengchun Wang’s men’s Olympic team and a women’s development squad skipped by Xindi Zhang.

For the official CTC news release on Team China’s visit, click here.

NZ Winter Games

The New Zealand Winter Games are underway today through August 30, with multiple nations from the Pacific region – plus a few others – competing in this new international sport competition.

The inclusion of curling – plus the proximity to February’s upcoming Olympic Winter Games– makes this of interest.

Five days of live curling competition – with three draws a day – will be broadcast on Sky Television in New Zealand. And Kiwi curler (by way of Canada) Hans Frauenlob has been tabbed for colour commentary duties.

“By my reckoning that’s 28 hours of live curling,” Frauenlob told The Curling News. “I’m going to need throat lozenges.”

Incidentally, Frauenlob received his “Olympic Number” this year, along with his teammates from New Zealand’s 2006 Olympic curling squad. These stories (here and here) explain the program, in which Kiwi Olympians are “numbered” according to the first Olympic Games in which they competed, and alphabetically within that team, and receive a ring commemorating their achievement.

Frauenlob is number 986.

On the ice, powerhouse women’s teams include defending world champions China, skipped by Bingyu Wang and 2007 world semifinalists Japan, skipped by Moe Meguro. They are challenged by teams from New Zealand (Bridget Becker), Australia (Kim Forge) and Korea (Min-A Park).

On the men’s side, Japan’s youthful Yusuke Morozumi is one to watch, as is 21-year-old U.S. skip Jerod Roland, who has been named captain of the entire U.S. team. China’s Fengchun Wang is a definite gold-medal threat, while Korea is represented by Min-Chan Kim, Australia is helmed by veteran Hugh Millikin, and Karel Kubeska’s Czech Republic is there, too.

Two other men’s teams of note: Canada is represented by Calgary’s Cliff Butchko, who commands a team of forty-somethings from the Huntington Hills Curling Club. It’s the first international appearance for the squad, which has been described as a decent Superleague foursome. We’ll watch these rookies with interest!

[UPDATED: a story on the Canadians has just been posted here]

Finally, the host team is skipped by Dan Mustapic, another expat Canadian and a former teammate of longtime national team skip Sean Becker, who was rejected for the Games by a selection panel earlier this month. You can read all about that controversial decision here.