World Curling Championships
The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and mixed doubles championships, as well as men's and women's versions of junior and senior championships. There is also a world championship for wheelchair curling. The men's championship started in 1959, while the women's started in 1979. The mixed doubles championship was started in 2008. Since 2005, the men's and women's championships have been held in different venues, with Canada hosting one of the two championships every year: the men's championship in odd years, and the women's championship in even years. Canada has dominated both the men's and women's championships since their inception, although Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany (West Germany), Scotland, the United States, Norway and China have all won at least one championship.
 World Women's Curling Championship trophy | |
| Sport | Curling |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1959 (men) 1979 (women) |
| No. of teams | 13 |
| Most recent champion(s) |   |
| Most titles | .svg.png){kind=small} |
History
The World Curling Championships began in 1959 as the Scotch Cup. The Scotch Cup was created by Toronto public relations executive and former sports journalist Stanley D. Houston on behalf of the Scotch Whisky Association, a client of Houston's agency Public Relations Services Limited, which was looking to generate increased North American exposure for its products. The first three Cups were contested between men's teams from Scotland and Canada. The United States joined the Scotch Cup in 1961, and Sweden also joined the next year. Canada won the first six world titles, of which the legendary rink skipped by Ernie Richardson earned four. The United States was the first country to break Canada's streak, winning their first world title in 1965. By 1967, Norway, Switzerland, France, and Germany were added to the Scotch Cup, and Scotland won their first title, while Canada finished without a medal for the first time. The tournament was renamed the Air Canada Silver Broom the year after that, and Canada strung together five consecutive world titles starting in that year.
In 1973, the competing field was expanded to ten teams, and Italy and Denmark were introduced to the world stage. Sweden, Switzerland, and Norway won their first titles in the following years, and Canada continued to win medals of all colours. In 1979, the first edition of the women's World Curling Championships was held. The championships were held separately from the men's championships for the first ten years. During this time, Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany won world titles.
Bronze medals were not awarded until 1985 for the women's tournament and 1986 for the men's tournament. Between 1989 and 1994, the bronze medal was shared by the semifinals losers.
Beginning in 1989, the men's and women's championships were held together. Norway won their first world women's title. In 1995, Ford Canada and the World Curling Federation reached an agreement to make Ford the sponsor of the World Curling Championships. Japan, the first nation from Asia to compete in the worlds, made their debut in 1990 at the women's championship, and later in 2000 at the men's championship. South Korea and China followed suit in the 2000s. Scotland won their first women's title in 2002, and the United States won their first women's title the next year.
In 2005, the men's and women's championships were separated, and an agreement was made between the World Curling Federation and the Canadian Curling Association that Canada would host one of the tournaments annually each year, all of which are title sponsored by Ford of Canada. Canada began a streak of top two finishes in the men's tournament, and China won their first world title in the women's tournament in 2009.
In 2008, a world championship for mixed doubles curling was created. Switzerland won the first world mixed doubles title, and proceeded to win four of the first five titles. Russia and Hungary won their first world curling titles in the mixed doubles championship, and New Zealand, France, Austria, and the Czech Republic won their first world curling medals.
In 2015, a world championship for mixed curling was created, replacing the European Mixed Curling Championship and supplanting the European Mixed and Canadian Mixed curling championships as the highest level of mixed curling in the world.[1]
In 2019, the World Qualification Event was introduced, to qualify the final two teams in the men's and women's championships.[2] A mixed doubles qualification event will also be added in the 2019–20 curling season, qualifying the final four teams of the twenty-team mixed doubles championship.[3]
In 2020, the men's, women's and mixed doubles championships were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5][6]
Tournament names
The World Curling Championships have been known by a number of different names over the years.
Men
- 1959–1967: Scotch Cup
- 1968–1985: Air Canada Silver Broom
- 1986–1988: IOC President's Cup (Hexagon)
- 1989–1990: WCF Championships
- 1991–1992: Canada Safeway World Curling Championship
- 1993–1994: WCF Championships
- 1995–2004: Ford World Curling Championship
- 2005–2017: Ford World Men's Curling Championship (odd years)
- 2006–2018: World Men's Curling Championship (even years)
- 2019: Pioneer Hi-Bred World Men's Curling Championship
- 2020: LGT World Men's Curling Championship
Women
- 1979–1981: Royal Bank of Scotland World Curling Championships
- 1982: World Curling Championships
- 1983: Pioneer Life World Curling Championships
- 1984: World Curling Championships
- 1985: H&M World Curling Championships
- 1986–1990: World Curling Championships
- 1991–1992: Canada Safeway World Curling Championships
- 1993–1994: World Curling Championships
- 1995–2004: Ford World Curling Championships
- 2005–2017: World Women's Curling Championship (odd years)
- 2006–2018: Ford World Women's Curling Championship (even years)
- 2019: LGT World Women's Curling Championship
Competition format
The first two world championships, held as competitions between Scotland and Canada, were held as five-game series between the two nations. Upon the addition of the United States in 1961, the format was changed to a double round robin preliminary round with a three-team knockout round at the conclusion of the round robin. The knockout round was removed for the next two championships. With the addition of more teams, a single round robin preliminary round with a four-team knockout round was implemented in 1971. The championships occurring from 1968 to 1970 included three-team knockout rounds instead of four-team knockout rounds. The knockout round format was adjusted from single-elimination to the Page playoff system in 2005.
In the championships held from 1971 to 1985, third place was awarded to either the team that lost in the semifinal of a three-team knockout round or the higher-seeded team among the losing teams of a four-team knockout round. A bronze medal game was added to the knockout round in 1986, but bronze medal games were not held from 1989 to 1994, during which bronze medals were awarded to the teams that lost in the semifinals.
Until 2017 format of the world championships used a twelve team round-robin preliminary round, after which the top four teams advance to a knockout round held using the Page playoff system.
Starting in 2018 there are 13 teams playing round-robin preliminary round with top six advancing to a single-elimination knockout with top two receiving bye to the semifinals.[7] This includes two teams from the Americas zone, eight from the European zone (via the European Curling Championships) and three from the Asia-Pacific zone (via the Pacific-Asia Curling Championships). For 2019, the number of teams from the Asia-Pacific zone will be reduced by one, and there will also be one less team from the zone of the bottom-placed team at the 2018 championships.[8] The two slots will be allocated to teams from the new World Qualification Event. The qualification event will have eight teams: the host country, one team from the Americas, two from Pacific-Asia, and four from Europe.
Championships
Men
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Women
Mixed
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Mixed Doubles
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Wheelchair
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National championships
Men
Women
See also
References
- "WCF Annual General Assembly 2014 - 7 September". World Curling Federation. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
- "World Curling Championships to grow after Annual General Assembly". World Qualification Event. 17 September 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
- World Curling Federation (9 September 2018). "Resolutions put to the World Curling Annual General Assembly 2018". World Curling Federation. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
- Au, Jeffrey. "World Mixed Doubles and World Senior Curling Championships 2020 cancelled in Kelowna, Canada". World Curling Association. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
- "LGT World Men's Curling Championship 2020 cancelled in Glasgow, Scotland". World Curling Association. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
- "World Women's Curling Championship 2020 cancelled in Prince George, Canada". World Curling Association. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
- "World Curling Championships to grow after Annual General Assembly". World Curling Federation. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- PDF from
- "Victoria, Canada awarded 2013 Ford World Men's Curling Championship". 18 October 2011.
- "WCF and CCA deal on future of World Championships in Canada". 8 August 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
- "World Men's Curling Championship returns to Basel, Switzerland in 2016". World Curling Federation. 26 February 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
- "Edmonton to host Ford World Men's Curling Championship 2017". World Curling Federation. 19 January 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
- "Fabulous Las Vegas awarded World Men's Curling Championship 2018". World Curling Federation. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
- "Lethbridge to host 2019 World Men's Curling Championship". Curling Canada. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- "Scotland awarded four international curling championships". World Curling Federation. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
- The Canadian Press (14 March 2020). "Men's curling world championship in Scotland cancelled due to COVID-19". The Star. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- "LGT World Men's Curling Championship 2020 cancelled in Glasgow, Scotland". World Curling Federation. World Curling Federation. 14 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- "Lethbridge Awarded 2012 WWCC". 6 December 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
- "Riga Latvia to host World Women's Curling Championship 2013". Worldcurling.org. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
- "WCF Annual General Assembly 2013". World Curling Federation. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
- "Swift Current to host 2016 Ford World Women's Curling Championship". Canadian Curling Association. 5 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- "China to host first World Women's Curling Championship". World Curling Federation. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
- http://www.worldcurling.org/north-bay-2018
- "Silkeborg, Denmark to host World Women's Curling Championship 2019". World Curling Federation. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
- "2020 World Women's Curling Championship to be played in Prince George, B.C." Canadian Curling Association. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
- The Canadian Press (12 March 2020). "World Women's Curling Championship Cancelled". The Sports Network. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
- "World Women's Curling Championship 2020 cancelled in Prince George, Canada". World Curling Federation. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
- "Russia to host second World Mixed Curling Championship". World Curling Federation. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- "World Mixed Curling Championship 2017". World Curling Federation. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
- "Erzurum Turkey to host World Mixed Doubles Championship 2012". Worldcurling.org. 13 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
- "Fredericton to Stage 2013 World Mixed Doubles and World Senior Curling Championships". Canadian Curling Association. 23 April 2012.
- "Dumfries, Scotland to stage 2014 World Mixed Doubles and World Senior Curling Championships". World Curling Federation. 11 April 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- "WCF Annual General Assembly 2014 - 7 September". World Curling Federation. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
- "Karlstad, Sweden to host World Mixed Doubles and World Senior Curling Championships 2016". World Curling Federation. 25 April 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- "Venue confirmed for World Mixed Doubles and Senior Curling Championships 2017". World Curling Federation. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- "Lohja, Finland to host World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2015". World Curling Federation. 29 January 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
- "World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2016 to be held in Lucerne, Switzerland". World Curling Federation. 3 January 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
- "World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2017". World Curling Federation. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
- "worldcurling.org/scotland-awarded-four-international-curling-championships". World Curling Federation. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
- "Wetzikon, Switzerland to host World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2020". World Curling Federation. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
- "Finnish Championships - Past seasons". Curling.fi. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
External links
- "Championships Search". World Curling Federation. Retrieved 31 March 2010.