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WWCC

The Women's World Curling Championships were held this past March in Asia. The host country was South Korea and the stadium was the Uijeongbu Indoor Ice Rink. The curling public considered the Swiss and Canadian women to be the favourites. A question mark hung over the form of the Asians, almost anyone could have surprised otherwise, except perhaps the Lithuanians (Paulauskaite) who came to make their debut, and for the other participants, a match against them was a must-win. Their underestimation, however, was almost made worse by the star Swiss (Tirinzoni), who needed a mistake from their Baltic opponents to eke out a narrow win in the tenth end. In the opening Round Robin, the Scots (Jackson) somewhat surprisingly outplayed Canada (Homan) and the Maple Leaf supporters became nervous. However, the Canadian champions are known for their ability to spread their strengths throughout the tournament to produce their best curling in the final rounds. They had a tough time in the semi-final against Korea, when Homan staved off her team's defeat with an uneasy double take-out in the tenth end. The expected final was the same as last year. The Swiss ran out of breath just before the finish and Canada deservedly defended. The bronze goes to the lucky Chinese, who have secured their participation in the Winter Olympics in Italy. The Koreans took home the potato. The Czech women were absent because the nomination key for participation in the World Championships was changed a few years ago and qualifying matches between the eighth from Europe A and the winner of the European B team are no longer played. Spectators were few and far between, just a couple of dozen enthusiasts who were difficult for the TV cameras to find for their genre-specific cuts. Eurosport broadcast just two matches and the final. So the only platform was the Curling Channel, which also failed to convince with its quality. The top curling venues deserved better care.