14-04-2016, 23:32
In the past few weeks we've had everything but the kitchen sink, now it's time for the kitchen sink to have it's week in the sun.
The Karlstad Curling Arena in Karlstad, Sweden is set to play host to the World Seniors Curling Championships for both Men and Women, play getting underway tomorrow at 9.30am CET. The players are over 50 and there are a record number of countries competing - 27 for the Men and 17 for the Women.
The three men's Groups are:
Group A: Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, Russia, Scotland, Switzerland, USA (holders) and Wales.
Group B: Canada, Finland, France, Israel, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Slovakia and Sweden.
Group C: Australia, Denmark, England, Italy, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Slovenia, and Turkey.
The eight teams playing in the knock-out stages will be the first and second in each group, as well as two of the three third-placed teams to be decided in a play-off.
As yet, there are no team photographs on the WCF website, but I can exclusively reveal
that the Scottish team is skipped by yet another Muirhead, father Gordon. Eve is doing best so far with a Bronze Medal for her troubles, while her brother Glen finished seventh in his World quest.
The women have been divided into two groups as follows:
Group A: Australia, Canada (holders), Czech Republic, England, Finland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden.
Group B: Austria, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Russia, Scotland, Switzerland and USA.
The first team in each group will play in the semi-finals, with the second in Group A playing the third in Group B and vice versa to decide the other two semi-finalists.
This year's England team is composed of players from my local ice rink at Kelso, so I will certainly be rooting for England in this competition.
All the Semi-finals will be played in the morning of Saturday 23 April with the Medal Finals being played in the afternoon.
Hopefully I won't miss out any of the games, but with such a huge playing schedule, I might be prone to the odd mistake. Tomorrow's games see Ireland v Finland and England v Poland in the first session, then Scotland v Czech Republic in the second session for the Men. Also in the second session is the Australia v England game in the Women's competition. The evening session sees Italy v Scotland for the Women and Switzerland v Wales for the Men.
And as if that wasn't enough, the largest ever World Mixed Doubles Championships will be taking place at the Löfbergs Lila Arena, also in Karlstad, and starting on Saturday 16 April. The ginormous draw, involving some unusual curling countries such as Israel, Brazil and Qatar, is as follows:-
Group A: Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary (holders), Latvia, Poland, Switzerland and Slovakia.
Group B: Austria, Finland, Germany, Korea, Lithuania, Slovenia and Sweden.
Group C: England, Japan, Kazakhstan, Luxemburg, Norway, Romania and Turkey.
Group D: Australia, Canada, China, France, Ireland, Italy and Serbia.
Group E: Belarus, Denmark, Spain, Israel, Netherlands, New Zealand and USA.
Group F: Brazil, Czech Republic, Estonia, Qatar, Russia, Scotland and Wales.
I'll try to highlight the games involving the home countries tomorrow, but expect a lot of information in each post. Most of it will be of little interest to the individual, but you should all find something relevant to your particular country.
It looks as though Chris Wells of Wales is going to be busy this coming week. Not only is he competing in the Seniors, he is the coach of the Mixed Doubles team. Dawn Watson will be equally busy, as she is playing in the Mixed Doubles and coaching the Welsh Seniors.
The Wilson family is certainly well represented in Ireland's teams. Peter and Peter J are playing in the Seniors with Peter J D coaching the Mixed Doubles.
There are other family connections too, but too many to reveal in this post.
This competition also counts for qualification for the Pyeongchang Olympics in 2018, so as well as the normal medal matches on Saturday 23 April, there will be play-offs to determine the ranking points.
The Karlstad Curling Arena in Karlstad, Sweden is set to play host to the World Seniors Curling Championships for both Men and Women, play getting underway tomorrow at 9.30am CET. The players are over 50 and there are a record number of countries competing - 27 for the Men and 17 for the Women.
The three men's Groups are:
Group A: Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Latvia, Russia, Scotland, Switzerland, USA (holders) and Wales.
Group B: Canada, Finland, France, Israel, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Slovakia and Sweden.
Group C: Australia, Denmark, England, Italy, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Slovenia, and Turkey.
The eight teams playing in the knock-out stages will be the first and second in each group, as well as two of the three third-placed teams to be decided in a play-off.
As yet, there are no team photographs on the WCF website, but I can exclusively reveal
that the Scottish team is skipped by yet another Muirhead, father Gordon. Eve is doing best so far with a Bronze Medal for her troubles, while her brother Glen finished seventh in his World quest.The women have been divided into two groups as follows:
Group A: Australia, Canada (holders), Czech Republic, England, Finland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden.
Group B: Austria, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Russia, Scotland, Switzerland and USA.
The first team in each group will play in the semi-finals, with the second in Group A playing the third in Group B and vice versa to decide the other two semi-finalists.
This year's England team is composed of players from my local ice rink at Kelso, so I will certainly be rooting for England in this competition.
All the Semi-finals will be played in the morning of Saturday 23 April with the Medal Finals being played in the afternoon.
Hopefully I won't miss out any of the games, but with such a huge playing schedule, I might be prone to the odd mistake. Tomorrow's games see Ireland v Finland and England v Poland in the first session, then Scotland v Czech Republic in the second session for the Men. Also in the second session is the Australia v England game in the Women's competition. The evening session sees Italy v Scotland for the Women and Switzerland v Wales for the Men.
And as if that wasn't enough, the largest ever World Mixed Doubles Championships will be taking place at the Löfbergs Lila Arena, also in Karlstad, and starting on Saturday 16 April. The ginormous draw, involving some unusual curling countries such as Israel, Brazil and Qatar, is as follows:-
Group A: Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary (holders), Latvia, Poland, Switzerland and Slovakia.
Group B: Austria, Finland, Germany, Korea, Lithuania, Slovenia and Sweden.
Group C: England, Japan, Kazakhstan, Luxemburg, Norway, Romania and Turkey.
Group D: Australia, Canada, China, France, Ireland, Italy and Serbia.
Group E: Belarus, Denmark, Spain, Israel, Netherlands, New Zealand and USA.
Group F: Brazil, Czech Republic, Estonia, Qatar, Russia, Scotland and Wales.
I'll try to highlight the games involving the home countries tomorrow, but expect a lot of information in each post. Most of it will be of little interest to the individual, but you should all find something relevant to your particular country.
It looks as though Chris Wells of Wales is going to be busy this coming week. Not only is he competing in the Seniors, he is the coach of the Mixed Doubles team. Dawn Watson will be equally busy, as she is playing in the Mixed Doubles and coaching the Welsh Seniors.
The Wilson family is certainly well represented in Ireland's teams. Peter and Peter J are playing in the Seniors with Peter J D coaching the Mixed Doubles.
There are other family connections too, but too many to reveal in this post.
This competition also counts for qualification for the Pyeongchang Olympics in 2018, so as well as the normal medal matches on Saturday 23 April, there will be play-offs to determine the ranking points.
Cabbage is still good for you
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), although a defeat might get them into a tie-breaker.