PCCC2022 Preview

 #BetweenTheSheets: Pan Continental Curling Championship Preview

New event brings together two regions and a new qualification system 

"Continuity gives us roots;

change gives us branches,

letting us stretch and 

grow and reach new heights."

- Pauline R. Kezer

Continuity in curling is to continue the #growthesport mantra. Increased representation from more countries around the world continues to showcase curling as a global, international sport.

The sport will sprout a new branch in Calgary from October 31 - November 6 when the inaugural Pan Continental Curling Championships hit the ice at Winsport Arena.

For some nations, they will grow and reach new heights just through their participation in this event.

For others, this event serves as a stepping stone to the world championships, which could be new or renewed heights for a few nations.

Change can foster positive growth in sport and we will see this come to fruition with this new event.

And, as Sheryl Crow famously sang, "A change can do you good."

The Pan Continental Curling Championships will serve as the new world championship qualifier for nations in the Pacific-Asia and America's regions.

The Pacific-Asia Curling Championships and Americas Challenger events are no more.

PCCC (because we always love some acronyms) will now operate similar to the European Curling Championships.

There will be a championship division, A-Division, which will serve as a world championship qualifier.

There will also be a championship sub-division, B-Division, which will serve as an opportunity for developing curling nations to work their way into the A-Division and, in turn, a possible spot on world championship ice.

Of course with change comes some sad goodbyes.

We say goodbye to crowning a Pacific-Asia champion. The region no longer has its own continental championship, now mixed in with the America's region.

It is a bit somber to celebrate a new event but knowing this new event eliminated a popular continental championship.

Gone is the world championship qualifier events we have seen in recent years.

With Europe and Pacific-Asia/Americas now having similar regional competitions, the direct path to the world championship becomes a bit simpler.

Which means gone is the second chance opportunity for those who stumble at the continental championships. The pressure is on and this is your one shot to qualify (unless you are host of course).

Gone is the free pass for Canada and USA.

Lets be honest, even with the Americas Challenger event, it was still a free pass for Canada or USA to punch their world championship ticket.

Now the "free pass" is now longer a thing. Canada and USA have to compete with strong Pacific-Asia reps to qualify for the world championship.

In theory, for a world championship event scheduled to take place in Europe, it is possible neither Canada nor USA could be competing if they fail to qualify out of the PCCC.

Imagine the uproar if that ever was to occur! It might not happen BUT it COULD happen.

The only "free pass" we see now is for the world championship host nation. Everyone else has to earn their spot at a continental championship.

And, from an equality perspective, it is as it should be. #WinAndIn

Note, this inaugural event is met with slight controversy.

Unfortunately, due to travel restrictions, China will not be competing. This means not only will China not qualify for the world championships this season BUT it also means next season China will be competing in the B-Division.

When China announced their withdrawal, another controversy arose.

Originally WCF announced Kazakhstan's men's team and Chinese Taipei's women's team would take the spot of China in the A-Division.

Unfortunately, a few days later, a ranking system error was discovered (an error in a ranking system? No way! 😉) and the Australian men and New Zealand women actually earned A-Division promotion.

Kazakhstan's men and Chinese Taipei's women will remain in B-Division, where they would have competed had China not withdrawn. 

What we will also see from this new event is, similar to ECC, nations who finish at the bottom of the A-Division table will be relegated to B-Division the next year.

This means not only does your nation fail to qualify for this season's world championship, it also means your nation cannot qualify for next season's world championship either...and perhaps more in the future depending on your ability to win B-Division and earn promotion back into A-Division.

We have seen in past Euro history some strong nations, like Denmark, Finland, Russia as examples, find their men's and/or women's teams relegated and having to fight their way back.

We could, in theory, see situations where Canada, USA, Japan or South Korea stumble at PCCC and end up relegated to B-Division. It may seem unlikely today but it could happen.

We have seen it happen at the world junior and wheelchair curling disciplines in recent years. It could happen for the men's and women's national teams too.

And note the importance on this fact towards Olympic qualification. Nations earn qualification points based on their world championship results. If you are not even competing on the world championship ice, you are not earning any Olympic qualification points.

European nations have felt this pressure for many seasons. The Pacific-Asia and Americas nations will now get their first taste of this pressure this season.

But, on the flip side, it can also bring those nations and athletes closer together.

Having attended a few ECCs in the past, I can attest to how close those athletes are. They hang out outside of the rink. We see many teams from various nations going out for supper together, heading out to a club together at the end of the competition and generally becoming friends, not just competitors.

The Pacific-Asia and Americas nations have a chance to form a stronger bond among one another. And that can be a value add big win for this new competition.

We will not know the success of PCCC until we start the competition. Bring on the inaugural PCCC preview!

#PCCC2022 Preview

Calgary, CAN

2021 Champions: New Event

Men - A Division

Nations: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, USA

Format: 8 nation RR with Top 4 playoff qualifiers. Top 4 placement (not including Canada) qualify for the World Men's Curling Championship. Last place nation relegated to PCCC2023 B Division.

#Fav: Canada

When you are being led by a guy named Brad Gushue, tough not to be considered the favourite.

Gushue has already picked up one #gsoc title this season and reached the SF last weekend at the second slam.

The three guys (Gushue, Mark Nichols and Geoff Walker) are also the defending Canadian champions, defending Olympic reps and world silver medal winners.

And the "new guy" to the team just happens to be a past Olympic gold medal winner in E.J. Harnden.

Canada also enters the event with a bit less pressure than their opposition, knowing the nation already has a spot at #WMCC2022 as the host.

But they are playing for the future in retaining Canada's spot in the PCCC A-Division for next season.

#TeamUpset: New Zealand

Before the cancellation of the PACC, New Zealand was starting to make some headway back into the contender conversation.

The nation reached the Final Four in 2018 and 2019, ending with a 4th place finish. Their last podium finish was a silver medal in 2011.

The Kiwi's have only competed in 5 world championships, with the last being in 2012 (5th place).

Fast forward to 2022 and the skip of the 2012 team, Peter de Boer, is now the alternate for the up and coming #NextGen team skipped by Anton Hood.

You may be familiar with the name if you follow the world junior scene the past few seasons. In 2019, Hood was the fourth for Team Matthew Neilson when the nation made a splash at the world junior championships.

The team finished 4-5, good enough for 6th place overall and avoided relegation for 2020. Unfortunately at the 2020 world junior championships, the team would be unable to replicate their 2019 accomplishment, finishing 3-6 and relegated.

This new look Team Hood made a smart scheduling decision last weekend, competing in Leduc where they reached the SF. Their playoff run included a TB victory over Korea's Team Jeong, who they will face in their second RR game Tuesday afternoon.

Could they surprise the field and snag a world championship ticket? 

#W2W4: WMCC2022 Tickets

We know the Big 4 in this field (Canada, Japan, Korea, USA). The question is who can secure the final world championship spot from the remaining teams.

And, can one of the "other 4" surprise the field and steal a playoff spot?

There are some strong teams outside the Big 4 who could rely on experience to make a playoff push.

Australia will be lead by Dean Hewitt, who is fresh of making #HIStory of his own as the first Aussie male curling Olympian at the 2022 Winter Olympics, competing in mixed doubles.

Randy Shen, skipping Chinese Taipei, is no stranger to this style of event. He has competed in 11 PACCs.

Brazilian skip Marcelo Mello has led his nation in eight Americas Challengers, finishing second in 2021.

#PopcornMatch:

Canada vs. USA (Draw 1) - What a start to an inaugural event! We get the Battle of the Americas with Canada's Gushue vs. USA's Dropkin. Dropkin is fresh off a Tour Challenge Tier II title, which came off a SF result at the Boost National (which Gushue won). This is going to be a massive game. Neither should be in trouble for the playoffs but an opening win will be a nice start for one of these superpowers.

Japan vs. South Korea (Draw 1) - Why not also book an Asian rivalry game to start the competition? Japan's Yanagisawa vs. Korea's Jeong will be, for some onlookers, a surprising match up as both teams were perhaps not favoured to win their respective national championships and earn their spot in this field. Again, similar to Canada/USA, both nations are expected to progress to the playoffs here but an opening loss makes it a bit more tricky of a road ahead.

Australia vs. New Zealand (Draw 1) - Keep the rivalry theme going with an all-Oceania battle. And this one could have HUGE playoff/world championship ramifications. The winner of this game will have the inside track on the coveted #5 spot and the ticket to the world championship. The loser will have work to do.

Projected Standings: 1. Canada  2. USA  3. Japan  4. South Korea  5. Australia  6. New Zealand  7. Chinese Taipei  8. Brazil

#WMCC2022Qualifiers: USA, Japan, South Korea, Australia

Relegated #PCCC2023 B-Division: Brazil

#PCCC2022 Playoff Qualifiers: Canada, USA, Japan, South Korea

#PCCC2022 Bronze Medal Game: Japan (Team Yanagisawa) def. South Korea (Team Jeong)

#PCCC2022 Championship: Canada (Team Gushue) def. USA (Team Dropkin)

Women - A Division

Nations: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, South Korea, USA

Format: 9 nation RR with Top 4 playoff qualifiers. Playoff bracket will be #1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3. Top 5 placement qualify for the World Women's Curling Championship. Bottom two nations relegated to PCCC2023 B Division.

#Fav: Canada

The Canadian champs accomplished the #3peat last season and are looking as strong as ever this season.

They arrive in Calgary fresh off a slam final in Grande Prairie and reached the SF at the previous slam.

It is without question they remain the creme de la creme in Canada and are the current world bronze medallists.

Unlike their Canadian male counterparts however, they are playing for a world championship spot for Canada so there will be some pressure on them.

But they should also have no problem picking up the wins to earn their ticket.

#TeamUpset: Kazakhstan

Is this the international coming out party for Kazakhstan?

When we last saw Angelina Ebauyer at the 2021 PACCs, she was making #HERstory of her own in skipping the Kazakhstan team onto the podium with a bronze medal.

It was the first world curling medal for Kazakhstan and showed a tremendous growth for the sport. The previous best result was 4th place in 2015.

Of course both of those Top 4 placements happened to occur on home nation ice so that helps a bit.

Now the team will fly across the globe to compete in Canada, with hopes of surprising the curling world once again and securing a first world championship spot for Kazakhstan.

That fifth and final ticket is up for grabs folks.

#W2W4: WWCC2022 Tickets

Similar to the men's competition, we have a Big 4 for the women: Canada, Japan, South Korea and USA.

A slight difference for the women is there may only be 4 playoff spots but there are 5 world championship tickets.

A nation will miss the playoffs at this event but still be celebrating at the end of the RR in qualifying for the world championship.

The question is, assuming the Big 4 dominate, who slides into that 5th spot in the standings?

Kazakhstan is on the rise, as mentioned above.

Hong Kong is probably the nation most people would favour to claim the 5th spot as Ling-Yue Hung has skipped the women's national team to 4th place finishes at the 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 PACC.

And never count out Bridget Becker and her international experience. While she plays lead for New Zealand's Team Jessica Smith, Becker has competed in 15 PACC and 6 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, including winning silver in 2010.

#PopcornMatch:

Japan vs. South Korea (Draw 4) - A classic Asian rivalry game which will have major final standings and playoff bracket implications. No team is wanting to face Canada in the SF. The winner of this game could avoid Canada until the finals.

Canada vs USA (Draw 7) - Both Team Einarson and Team Peterson (USA) should have their playoff spots locked up at this point in the competition. This will be an America's battle for a playoff seed. With a 1 vs. 4 / 2 vs. 3 playoff format, there is no second chance. Both teams will want to finish ahead of one another. But who knows, this could be a SF or F preview too.

Australia vs. New Zealand (Draw 7) - The Oceania rivalry game could become a de facto game of survival. The winner may secure their spot in next year's A-Division while the loser could be at risk of relegation. Remember, the bottom two nations after the RR drop to B-Division next year. The loser of this game will be at high risk.

Hong Kong vs. Kazakhstan (Draw 8) - This will be the second last RR game for both teams but could be a de facto world championship play-in game. If both teams are in the running for a Top 5 spot, the winner of this game will have the inside track going into the final RR draw.

Projected Standings: 1. Canada  2. Japan  3. South Korea  4. USA  5. Hong Kong  6. Kazakhstan  7. Australia  8. New Zealand  9. Brazil

#WWCC2022 Qualifiers: Canada, Japan, South Korea, USA, Hong Kong

Relegated #PCCC2023 B-Division: New Zealand, Brazil

#PCCC2022 Playoff Qualifiers: Canada, Japan, South Korea, USA

#PCCC2022 Bronze Medal Game: South Korea (Team Ha) def. USA (Team Peterson)

#PCCC2022 Championship: Japan (Team Fujisawa) def. Canada (Team Einarson)

Men - B Division

Nations: Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia

Format: 8 nation RR with Top 4 playoff qualifiers. Playoff bracket will be #1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3. Winner of final earns promotion to PCCC 2023 A Division.

#Fav: Hong Kong

The wildcard for the men's B-Division may come down to international experience.

If so, Hong Kong skip Jason Chang should have the advantage towards earning that coveted A-Division promotion.

Chang has represented Hong Kong at 4 PACC, 2 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships and 4 World Mixed Curling Championships, including the 2022 edition which wrapped up just last weekend in Scotland.

His best PACC result was a 6th place finish in 2016 and 2018.

Plus pay attention to the coach's bench. You will notice a familiar face with Nadine Scotland offering her expertise to the team.

Expect to see Hong Kong in the playoff bracket.

#TeamUpset: Nigeria

#Broomzilla will make its presence known at Winsport Arena this week as the Nigerian men, led by skip Tijani Cole, look for their official international coming out party.

Cole has been the face of Nigerian curling for a number of years, including being a Curling Cares calendar model in 2021 with partner Susana Cole.

TJ Cole, who resides in Colorado, has competed at the world mixed doubles and world mixed. He is no stranger to world curling ice. 

Cole was part of #HIStory at the 2019 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship when he, with Susana, won Nigeria's first ever world championship match and became the first African nation to secure a W.

Their motto in 2019 was "We won't be outworked". Could all the effort being put into the sport over the past few years pay off in a big way with a playoff run at this event?

#W2W4: Wide Open Field

A case could be made for a handful of the teams competing in this inaugural B-Division tournament to be considered a strong favourite to earn promotion.

Hong Kong will be a threat.

Guyana, skipped by Rayad Husain, was second at the 2018 Americas Challenge.

India will be making their men's debut but skip P.N. Raju and second Vinay Goenka are fresh off writing Indian Curling #HIStory at the world mixed, leading India in their debut and finishing with a respectful 3-5 record.

India will also have a very well-known coach on the bench with Darren Moulding. Moulding has been serving as Canadian host for the team, including practice ice in Lacombe.

Kazakhstan may no longer be skipped by Victor Kim but new skip Adil Zhumagozha, vice Aidos Alliyar and second Dmitriy Garagul were members of the 2021 PACC team which finished 4th, the best PACC result ever for Kazakhstan's men.

Qatar could be a sneaky team as well in this field. While the team has a slightly altered lineup, losing previous men's national skip Nabeel Alyafei, new skip Abdulrahman Mohsen has been on the national team since 2018 and has competed at the 2018, 2019 and 2021 PACC.

And watch out for Saudi Arabia. They are once again led by 62 year old English curler Alastair Fyfe, who is a three-time English senior men's champion.

#PopcornMatch:

Kenya vs. Nigeria (Draw 1) - Lets get the party started with the development of a new African curling rivalry. If Nigeria is to play the role of #TeamUpset, an opening draw win vs. their fellow African counterparts is a slide in the right direction.

Hong Kong vs. Kazakhstan (Draw 3) - This early RR game could have huge playoff implications for the winner and the loser. The loser will have work to do to keep the promotion dream alive. The winner could be on track for a top of the table finish and, potentially, an easier path to the final.

Qatar vs. Saudi Arabia (Draw 7) - The final RR draw will feature the battle of Arabic nations. Both are longshots for the playoffs; however, sports are built on great rivalries and this can be another chapter in the developing rivalry between two Western Asian nations.

Projected Standings: 1. Hong Kong  2. Kazakhstan  3. Guyana  4. Qatar  5. Nigeria  6. Saudi Arabia  7. India  8. Kenya

#PCCC2022 Playoff Qualifiers: Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Guyana, Qatar

#PCCC2022 B Division Bronze Medal Game: Guyana (Team Husain) def. Qatar (Team Mohsen)

#PCCC2022 B Division Championship / Promotion to #PCCC2023 A Division: Hong Kong (Team Chang) def. Kazakhstan (Team Zhumagozha)

Women - B Division

Nations: Chinese Taipei, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria

Format: 4 nation double RR with Top 3 qualifying for playoffs. 1st place earns bye to final. Winner of final earns promotion to PCCC 2023 A Division.

#W2W4: Opportunity is Knocking

All four nations competing in the B-Division can be considered #Favs AND #TeamUpset for this competition.

Kenya and Nigeria will be making their world curling debuts.

We are going to see two African nations hit the ice together folks, truly a #growthesport moment for curling as a whole but also for the African continent.

We last saw Mexico competing at the 2019 Americas Challenge, where they finished second after defeating Brazil twice.

The last time we saw Chinese Taipei at the PACC was in 2006. This will mark a huge return to the world curling ice for the nation.

One of these nations is going to earn promotion to A-Division in 2023.

Opportunity is knocking...who is answering?

#PopcornMatch:

Kenya vs. Nigeria (Draw 3, Draw 6) - Huge advantage perhaps for both debut nations in playing one another a few draws into the competition. The winner of this two-game series, regardless of final standings, will have African bragging rights for 2022.

Projected Standings: 1. Mexico  2. Chinese Taipei  3. Nigeria  4. Kenya

#PCCC2022 Playoff Qualifiers: Mexico, Chinese Taipei, Nigeria

#PCCC2022 B Division Championship / Promotion to #PCCC2023 A Division: Mexico (Team Camarena) def. Chinese Taipei (Team Lin)

There you have it rock heads. The inaugural Pan Continental Curling Championships preview post. 

What say you? Agree? Disagree? Who are you most excited to see step on the ice in Calgary?

#StayTuned

The blog will then be Winsport at various times throughout the week to provide some social media coverage of the event. THANK YOU once again World Curling Federation for granting the blog a media pass!

Live updates. Photos. Maybe even a few interviews. All will be shared on the #TwineTime social media feeds via twitter and/or the FB group.

Of course there will also be TV and streaming coverage. TSN will cover some Canadian games while World Curling TV will stream all A-Division games on The Curling Channel, with some games featured with full production and commentary.

The full broadcast schedule can be found HERE.

To those nations and athletes competing, good luck and good curling. You are truly creating curling #HIStory and #HERstory.