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.

Euro Mixed 2009

The European Mixed Curling Championship 2009 is nearing its climax in beautiful Prague, Czech Republic.

Some four years old now, the event is the second-largest competition on the ECF (European Curling Federation) calendar, after December’s men’s and women’s Le Gruyère European Championships.

After nearly a week of competition, the host nation has made it through one tiebreaker (beating Russia) and faces defending champions Germany in a bid to battle Scotland in Saturday’s semifinals.

The other semi will see England face off against Denmark. The Danes won the title two years ago.

Countries from the United Kingdom seem to do well in traditional Mixed discipline. Last year’s champions hailed from... Wales!

The website is a typical example of Czech enthusiasm for curling. Attractive in design and functionality, it includes some wonderfully atypical photographs, above and here and here (courtesy of Mr. Volfik) as well as a daily video for your enjoyment (courtesy of Josef Podrabsky).

Denmark curling history

VANCOUVER – The unprecedented continued at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic curling venue as Denmark’s men, skipped by Rasmus Stjerne (far left in photo) overturned a previous playoff thrashing from Canada to deliver a smackdown of their own to the hosts in the gold medal match.

This gives Denmark its first world title in men’s play – ever. And that includes adult men’s competition, too.

The WCF writeup also tells the story of Stjerne’s victory drawing... no, not the one on the ice, but the one with pen and paper. Check it out.

Here are the history makers. WCF photo by Andrew Klaver.

Lyndon Little has the view from Canada here, and they’re already celebrating the women’s gold in Scotland ...

Scottish curling history in Vancouver

VANCOUVER – Scotland’s Eve Muirhead and lead Sarah McIntyre (can’t forget the front-enders, right?) have made history here at the new Vancouver Olympic Centre by winning their third consecutive World Junior Championship in a very well-played, see-saw 8-6 win over Canada’s Kaitlyn Lawes.

Story here.

In the above World Curling Federation photo by Andrew Klaver, Canadian third Jenna Loder directs the line with Scotland’s Muirhead (right) and Anna Sloan in the background.

World Junior men’s final now underway: Canada’s smooth Brett Gallant and Denmark’s fiesty Rasmus Stjerne are battling in the fifth end, with the Danes stealing the fourth end for a 3-2 lead.

See the end of the WCF story for links to the live scoring, which creaked and groaned during the women’s final due to overwhelming demand...

Canada versus Denmark

AOMORI – It’s Canada versus Denmark for the world curling championship. Again.

Canada’s Kelly Scott will seek her third win of the week over Denmark’s Angelina Jensen in Sunday’s final of the 2007 World Women’s Championship.

On Saturday, Scott methodically picked apart the Danish team 11-3 to advance directly to the final, after having also beaten the Danes 8-1 in just seven ends during the round-robin.

Denmark then made a stunning comeback from both the loss to Canada and a 5-1 deficit to Scotland in Saturday night’s bronze medal game. The Danes scored steals in the eighth end (for two), the ninth end, and also the tenth (another two) for a 9-6 triumph in the de facto semi-final.

A disappointed Kelly Wood settled for bronze, the first medal of her international career.

The fun-loving Danes lept into each others’ arms following the improbable win. Madeleine Dupont, who throws skip stones for Jensen, admitted she though they had lost after the first five ends.

“It was really tough in the beginning,” said Dupont.

“I said, ‘let’s give up, we don’t believe in it… f**k it,’ actually,” Dupont giggled. “The others really thought we could do it.”

And what did her teammates say to her after the game?

“I told you so!” said Dupont.

Denmark also solved the Scots in the round-robin, winning that game by the same 9-6 linescore. Against Canada, the Danes know they will have to do something different.

“We have to be a little more aggressive,” said Dupont.

“Try and put a little more pressure on them than we did in the morning.”

Scott’s Canadian champions have rarely looked beatable in Aomori, and Scott is clearly focused on Sunday’s task.

“This year we’re not going to be satisfied unless we cap it off with a win,” said Scott, the 2006 third-place finisher.

“There’s no better time to go out and grab it.”

Against Denmark, the Canadian champions scored a deuce in the third end, followed by a steal of two in the fourth and another single in the fifth to build another 5-1 lead on their opponents.

In the seventh, the wheels fell off for the Danes as a cacophony of throwing and sweeping errors led to an enormous steal of five points. After going through the motions in the eighth, Jensen managed a point and promptly conceded.

“We expected a much tighter game but we’ll take ’em and run,” said Scott.

The Danes wrecked repeatedly on guards, missing the shots they had made earlier in the week.

The loss was their third in a row following an 8-1 start, but they managed a shocking regroup against the Scots.

The lineup is also quite different, as Jensen threw second stones (up from lead) and alternate Ane Hanson is seeing action. Jensen’s sister Camilla, the regular second, had to leave Japan on Friday to write a university exam in Copenhagen.

It was the biggest playoff trouncing at the women’s worlds since Canada’s Cathy Borst stomped Norway’s Dordi Nordby 10-2 in the 1988 bronze medal game.

The championship final marks only the second meeting between the countries in major international women’s finals. In 1998, just a few hours away in Karuizawa, Japan, Canada’s Sandra Schmirler defeated Denmark’s Helena Blach Lavrsen 7-5 to win Olympic gold.

Scotland moves past U.S.

AOMORI – It was a single errant 42-pound hunk of granite that spoiled Debbie McCormick’s day.

The U.S. champion missed a crucial but routine draw in the third end of the Page 3/4 Playoff match, handed four stolen points to Scotland’s Kelly Wood and spiralled out of the 2007 World Women’s Curling Championships.

The final score was 11-5 in nine ends.

“It was a little heavy, but I guess I was just wide,” said McCormick, the 2006 finalist and 2003 champion (photo by CurlingZone).

“It’s very disappointing after getting so close last year. They (Scotland) played well.”

The beginning of the end started innocently enough. The Americans missed repeated efforts to draw behind cover, and the Scots knocked the U.S. rocks clear. On McCormick’s last stone, there were four Scottish rocks in the rings but the path was wide-open for a simple draw to the rings for a point.

However, McCormick was a touch wide, the rock ran straight and crashed on a guard, and the U.S. suddenly trailed 5-0.

“There’s no way you would imagine that,” said Wood, who will face the loser of Saturday’s Page 1/2 game between Canada and Denmark. The winner of that match is into Sunday’s final.

“There was so much ice, it was a bit of a shock. It was strange, but nice.”

Wood is guaranteed a bronze medal.

“It’s my first medal in six or seven (international) championships,” said the enthused skip. “I’ve never been this far into the playoffs. I’m just going to enjoy the games the rest of the way.”

Prior to the game, the final four teams enjoyed a practice day, followed by a demonstration of Mixed Doubles curling, the new discipline being promoted by the World Curling Federation.

Numerous teams, coaches and curious spectators attended the four-end exhibition, which featured a Danish pair – Denise Dupont and coach Ulrik Damm – versus an American twosome (alternate Maureen Brunt and coach Rob Meakin) and American pairs throwing five rocks each, and with two extra stones placed in strategic positions before each end.

The game was filmed by World Curling Television to help the sport’s 46 member nations develop the discipline in their countries.

The first World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship takes place in Vierumäki, Finland in conjunction with the 2008 World Seniors, March 9-15 next year.