Both World Championships in "traditional curling" know the medal winners.
The seventh end of the Scotland v USA qualifying match to reach the semi-finals of the 2022 Men's World Curling Championships in Las Vegas. Ross Paterson throws the last stone at 1 : 5. It's a two-toss, not trivial but relatively easy. There is a barely audible sound, a tap of sorts, just past the target hog-line and Duncan Menzies picks up his broom, moves the stone away and whispers sorry. A lit rock. Admitted. I guess that would make me a candidate for the Sportsmanship Award, which is given annually to one of the players voted for by the other players in a poll. More interesting things happened at this championship. For example, one player was ejected from a game for unsportsmanlike conduct (Gonin, Italy). Incidentally, he was the one who received the Sportsmanship Award afterwards!??? The Swiss lost to Italy because they ran out of time. The introduction of thinking time a few years ago was definitely a step in the right direction and teams need to have good time management in their arsenal so that they don't come under time pressure. Discussion has heated up about the abuse of the absence of electronic checking on the departure hog-line. The arguments on both sides were good, it's just a shame that such a debate even occurs. Technically, world curling has some reserves and the WCF should, of course within its economic means, follow the technological trends. The quality of the ice was also a topic. The team representatives were quite diplomatic, but it was evident, for example from the final match between Sweden and Canada, that if the ice was perfect, the players would make fewer mistakes. In short, the ice had some non-standard specifics and it showed in the performance of some players.
rnBoth "traditional curling" championships are history. In the women's division, the Swiss (Tirinzoni) took the throne, the Korean (Kim) took the silver and the Canadian (Einarson) took the bronze. The men's team is led by the Swedish hegemons (Edin), followed by a slightly disappointed Canada (Gushue) and a deservedly happy Italy (Retornaz) for bronze. The Czechs (Klíma), after five wins, are ninth. A solid placing that holds promise for the upcoming Olympic cycle.
rnWorld Championships held just after the Winter Olympics are always a little different than the last two in the Olympic cycle, where they are fought for advancement points. Some countries send B teams, others rely on juniors and gaining experience. The announced testing of the "no tick zone" rule has also not added to the importance of this year's championships. Some teams were a bit derailed by this, others have a legitimate feeling that the WC is not meant to test the new rules. But the rule itself is probably a step in the right direction, and I look forward to seeing when we implement it here in our league.
rnphoto: Duncan Menzies, Scotland