#BetweenTheSheets: World Qualification Event Preview
Which member associations seize the last chance to qualify for world's?
Many curling eyes will be wide open to the bright lights in Las Vegas this weekend for the Continental Cup, cheering on some of their favourite teams and athletes. However, while many of the "elite" are enjoying their time in Vegas there are a few teams fighting for a spot in the world championship field.
2019 marks the first time the World Curling Federation hosts a last chance World Qualification Event for member associations who have failed to qualify for the world championships via their continental qualification.
If you want to compete with the world's best, this is your time to prove you belong on the big ice. Fun in the sun for some in Vegas but high pressure and increase stress for others on the other side of the world.
Now the first question everyone is asking is "how did we get here?" and "if two spots are on the line, did one region lose an auto spot last year?"
How We Got Here
The decision was made last year by the WCF to add this last chance qualifier as a means to help #growthesport around the world. With the world championship field growing to 13 teams, rather than rotate a different region earning an extra spot every year or just allocating the new spot to say Europe, arguably the most competitive region in the sport, the qualifier event was added to try and create an equal opportunity for all. The qualifier event will allow two member associations to advance to their respected upcoming world championship.
In terms of the world championship field, yes a member association did essentially lose an auto spot last year. For the women, Europe took the biggest hit. With Denmark hosting the 2019 World Women's Curling Championship, they automatically earn a spot in the field. To allow for two #WQE2019 qualifiers, an additional spot needed to become open.
When Italy finished at the bottom of the standings at the 2018 World Women's Curling Championship, they cost Europe an additional automatic qualification spot for 2019. Thus, through the combination of Denmark being the host and Italy finishing last, Europe lost two qualification spots.
For the men, one auto spot was awarded to the America's when Canada was named host for the 2019 World Men's Curling Championship. As a result, the other America's member associations were required to have a play-off to determine the one America's auto spot into the field. USA won the berth with Guyana finishing second and Brazil third (more on them in a moment).
At the 2018 world championship, Germany finished in last place and, similar to Italy for the women, cost Europe an additional auto spot in the 2019 field. Interestingly enough Germany would go on to finish 4th at this year's European Championships to earn an auto spot in the 2019 field but they did take a spot away from their fellow competitors.
At most world championships we are used to seeing 8 teams from Europe in the 12-team field. With the field expanding to 13, starting last year with the extra spot being awarded to Pacific-Asia, we could see only 6 European women's teams and 7 European men's teams in the field for 2019. Is the world catching up? Are we seeing more parity among the continents? Only time will tell.
Qualification
8 men's and 8 women's teams will come to Naseby, New Zealand trying to qualify for the world championship. How each nation qualified is quite simple.
For the America's region, the nation finishing second in the playoff, Guyana, earned the invite on the men's side. On the women's side, Brazil elected not to challenge USA for the world spot thus handing USA the auto berth and relegating themselves into this event.
For the #PACC, the nations who finished third and fourth at the Pacific-Asia Curling Championships in November earned the invite into this field, being South Korea, New Zealand (men) and China, Hong Kong (women). Worth noting, the host nation for the men was awarded to Australia when New Zealand qualified via their 4th place PACC finish. For the women, New Zealand was awarded the host spot.
In Europe, four teams would be awarded the spot. The teams placing 8th and 9th in the A-division as well as the first and second place teams from the B-division were awarded the invites. For the men this would be Netherlands (8th), Finland (9th), Denmark (1st) and England (2nd). For the women, Czech Republic (8th), Finland (9th), Norway (1st) and Estonia (2nd).
Now we couldn't have a curling event without a bit of controversy right? While the nations above earned their invite into this event not all of them decided to accept. A few nations decided to decline the invite and pass up their last chance qualifier opportunity.
On the men's side, two member associations elected to not send their qualified teams: Guyana and Finland. The Guyana Curling Federation already made this decision prior to the America's Challenger event, maybe not expecting their team to actually qualify? Plus Guyana is still new to the sport so the funding support is not as strong (yet!!) as their competitors. Finland not sending a team is a bit surprising and slightly disappointing given their history in the sport (and they did send their qualified women's team).
For the women, we see even bigger surprises here. Czech Republic, who finished 5th at last year's world championship and reached the playoffs, elected to not send their top team. Interestingly enough, Team Kubeskova is actually competing this weekend at the #wct event in Scotland instead. One would think the opportunity to play for a world championship, plus the strong result of last year, would warrant the trip to New Zealand.
European B-division winners Norway also decided to decline their invite. This is a bit disappointing as Kristen Skaslien has done an outstanding job of resurrecting women's curling in Norway. Her B-division win in November in Estonia earned Norway a ticket back into the elite group for 2019. Given the field in Naseby, Skaslien and company would have been a strong contender to earn a ticket to world's. Imagine going from Euro B-division to the world championships in one season? Alas, not meant to be.
With the Guyanese/Finland men and Czech Republic/Norway women declining their spots, other nations were able to reap the benefits. Brazil, finishing behind Guyana at the America's Challenger, was awarded their spot in the men's draw while Poland, who finished last in the Euro A-division, took the spot of Finland. Hungary and Poland were awarded the spot in the women's draw.
Want some more "things that make you go hmmm?" facts? Why were the two spots awarded to Hungary and Poland? Would Italy not have been asked as the last place finisher from Euro A-division? What about the other two playoff qualifiers from the Euro B-division: Turkey and Lithuania? Hungary finished 5th in the B-division while Poland finished 7th. Perhaps Italy, Turkey and Lithuania all declined the added invite as well? Tough to know for certain the true story behind all of this but it certainly raises some eyebrows. But hey what a story it could be for Hungary and/or Poland to go from outside the playoffs at B-division to competing for a world championship a few months later. Best of luck to both on seizing the advantage.
Time to slide out of the hack with the actual field competing in New Zealand and preview who to watch, who could be the #TeamUpset and toss out a few predictions.
#TourLifePredictions
World Qualification Event
Naseby, New Zealand
2018 Winners: New Event
Format: 8 team RR with top 3 teams advancing to playoffs. Opening playoff game will be 1st vs. 2nd for one world championship spot. Loser of opening playoff game vs. 3rd for last world championship spot.
MEN
Favourite:
South Korea (Team Kim) - You would be hard pressed to argue against Team Kim being considered the favourite in this field. Kim is the most experienced and, based on #wct results, most successful skip competing here. The 33 year old has been to three world championships (last being 2016) and is a two-time #PACC champion (2002, 2015). They have qualified in 4 #wct events this season and kicked off 2019 with a tour victory at the U.S. Open of Curling. The #PACC were a bit of a disappointment picking up a bronze medal on home ice but failing to automatically earn a ticket to the world championships. Expect this team to be fighting for redemption and, should they advance beyond this event, to be a dark horse threat in Lethbridge.
Watch Out For:
Netherlands (Team Goesgens) - Most are more familiar with this team being known as Team Van Dorp. However the team has elected to make a line-up change with Jaap Van Dorp moving down to vice but still throwing fourth stones while Wouter Goesgens makes the move from vice to skip but throwing vice stones. The Van Dorp - Goesgens switch comes after a slightly disappointing result in Tallinn, Estonia at the Europeans, where the team would finish a disappointing 8th and a 2-7 record (winning their final two games just to avoid relegation btw). This is still a very good team though with a strong chance to qualify out of this event. They have two #wct titles to their credit this season (Tallinn, Dumfries) and reached the QF at the Tour Challenge Tier II.
#TeamUpset:
England (Team Reed) - Perhaps one of the biggest #TeamUpset results of the season came in the European B-division when England reached the final and earned their first-ever promotion to the European A-division for next season. This team is on a roll folks. Sure they lost the B-division final to Denmark but they are sliding with confidence. Who would have thought at the beginning of the season this team would even be in this position? And now here they are with an outside chance at qualifying for the world championships! They shocked many in Europe with the results in Estonia, why not do it again in New Zealand? Any team playing with nothing to lose and everything to gain is always dangerous.
The Field:
Australia (Team Palangio) - Skip Ian Palangio, originally from Ontario, will look to make his 5th appearance at the world championships and first since 2008. Palangio skips this team but throws lead stones, leaving the back end throwing work to the Jay Merchant/Dean Hewitt combo. This is a different team than the one who competed at the #PACC and finished a disappointing 7th. Merchant skipped that team with Hewitt throwing fourth stones. Merchant will be looking for his first world championship appearance and it would hit very close to home seeing as he is originally from Red Deer, Alberta and the world's are hosted in Lethbridge, Alberta.
Brazil (Team Mello) - Marcello Mello will try to guide Brazil to their first world men's championship. As noted above, Brazil originally did not qualify for this event but with Guyana turning down their invite, Brazil was provided a second second-chance...or is it a third second-chance to qualify for worlds considering they competed in the America's Challenger? Either way, Brazil will be in tough against a field full of experience. But every nation has to start somewhere and this will be a good #growthesport moment for a nation still finding its footing on the international competitive curling scene.
Denmark (Team Damm) - Denmark qualified here based on their Euro B-division win but this is a different team than the one we saw in Estonia. It has been quite a year for Danish men's curling. They started 2018 having to qualify out of Euro C-division, which they won. Then they go and win Euro B-division to earn promotion back to Euro A-division. What is interesting is they have used a different team each time. Now Ulrik Damm is leading the ship and trying to once again earn promotion for Denmark curling. And if they do qualify, who will go represent the nation in Lethbridge? The results are pouring in as a positive but the method being used is quite interesting.
New Zealand (Team Becker) - Another great #TeamUpset story is New Zealand. Team Becker's 3rd place finish in the #PACC RR took many by surprise, this blog included. And while they failed to land on the podium after losing both playoff games, reaching the playoff round and guaranteeing their spot in this field is pretty remarkable as well. Kiwi curling centers around the Becker family. Scott is now the skip of the national team while older brother Sean is throwing vice, coaches the women's team (skipped by sister Bridget) and is Secretary of the New Zealand Curling Association. Sean was also the flag bearer for New Zealand during the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics. The Becker's previously competed at the world championships together in 2012 (with Peter de Boer as skip) and just missed the playoffs losing a TB and finishing 5th. Curling at home could help this team and they may just surprise the curling world here.
Poland (Team Jasiecki) - When Finland declined their berth in this event, Poland was provided a second chance. Poland may have finished last at the Euro A-division, thus being relegated for next season, but that was a different team than the one competing here in New Zealand. Borys Jasiecki has put together a solid #wct season with this team, qualifying in 2 of 4 events, reaching the championship final both times and claiming his first #wct title earlier in the season in Latvia. Be weary of this team who could surprise here. Poland is the other nation, alongside Brazil, to have never qualified for the world championships.
Projected Standings: 1. South Korea 2. New Zealand 3. England 4. Netherlands 5. Poland 6. Denmark 7. Australia 8. Brazil
World Men's Curling Championship Qualifiers: South Korea (Team Kim), New Zealand (Team Becker)
WOMEN
Favourite:
China (Team Mei) - The most experienced skip in the field, Mei Jie, will attempt to qualify for her 5th world championship appearance. Mei skips the team but throws third stones, allowing Wang Rui to throw fourth stones. Wang herself is an accomplished curler, having competed in 4 previous world championships and represented China in mixed doubles at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Team Mei has competed in 6 #wct events this season and have qualified in their past three events, including a championship final appearance in Red Deer (losing to Team Silvernagle) and losing the bronze medal game at the China Open (l. to Jennifer Jones). It is worth noting Mei did not represent China at the #PACC this year, where China finished 3rd to book a spot in this field. Based on resumes alone though, this team should be able to punch a ticket to Denmark for their nation. Whether they are selected to compete there however, that is another story.
Watch Out For:
Finland (Team Kauste) - Oona Kauste is a six-time Finnish curling champion and has represented her nation at two previous world championships (2015, 2016). Kauste has worked hard to try and get Finland women's curling back into the European elite, having competed in the A-division this season but unfortunately finished 9th and will be relegated back to B-division for 2019. Kauste has had a successful #wct season though, qualifying in 2 of 4 events and reaching the final both times. She did claim the title in her first event of the season in Tallinn, Estonia. The advantage for her in this field will be her experience. If she can draw on that and not give in to the high pressure of the event, which some of her competitors might, she has a strong chance of reaching her third world championship.
#TeamUpset:
Estonia (Team Turmann) - Estonia has never competed at the world championship but this might be their best opportunity yet. Marie Turmann and her team come to New Zealand off a strong second place showing at the Euro B-division in front of her home nation fans. Estonia curling is starting to pick up and this would be the perfect opportunity to help build the momentum for the future and continue to #growthesport back home. Turmann is still young remember, in fact she will turn 24 while competing at this event (January 23), and has done a great job at slowly moving forward women's curling for Estonia. She won Euro B bronze in 2017, Euro B silver in 2018....why not book Estonia's first-ever ticket to the world championships in 2019? Do not underestimate this young team.
The Field:
Brazil (Team Shibuya) - Brazil has never qualified for the world championships and Anne Shibuya and her team will be hard pressed to change that stat this season against this field. We have seen Shibuya on the international curling scene however, competing in mixed doubles. But this will be an uphill battle for sure. However, a team playing with nothing to lose and everything to gain could be the ultimate danger. I still think playing the America's Challenger against USA, even if they lost three straight games, could have been a good learning lesson for the developing nation.
Hong Kong (Team Hung) - Speaking of developing nations, who thought we would see Hong Kong competing here and still having an outside shot at playing for a world championship? Perhaps the ultimate #TeamUpset story of the women's season was Ling-Yue Hung guiding her team to a playoff spot at the #PACC and finishing in 4th place. But maybe we shouldn't underestimate her too much. Oddly enough she actually finished 4th at the 2017 #PACC as well with a 3-7 record, better than the 2-6 record she recorded to finish 4th this year. Hung is also more known for mixed curling, helping guide Hong Kong to their first international appearances at the 2017 World Mixed Curling Championship and the 2018 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship (with partner Jason Chang they finished 2-5). Reaching the playoff games here might be a stretch but getting here and competing is a slide in the right direction for Hong Kong curling.
Hungary (Team Palancsa) - Here is the dangerous wild card in the field. Hungary's Dorottya Palancsa is a two-time world mixed doubles champion and has been making a name for herself on the European curling circuit the past few years. She may only be 23 years old but she is a proven winner. On top of the mixed doubles gold she is also a three-time Hungarian junior champ and five-time Hungarian women's champ. She has skipped the Hungarian team at the past five European championships, finishing 12th, 10th, 11th, 10th and 15th. This season we only saw this team compete once on tour but they reached the championship final in Tallinn, Estonia (losing to fellow competitor here Finland's Kauste). Hungary has never qualified for the world championships but Palancsa has a good chance to be the first female skip to do so.
New Zealand (Team Becker) - The Becker family is well represented on home ice with Bridget leading the women and her brothers leading the men. While New Zealand has seen some success on the men's game, the women's game is still looking for a breakout performance. New Zealand has never qualified for the women's world championships and Bridget would love to be the first to do so, especially on home ice. Becker's biggest curling success came in mixed doubles when she won world silver in 2010. She is also a #PACC silver medal winner (1998) and four-time #PACC bronze medal winner. Becker is the face of women's curling in New Zealand, being a nine-time national champion. What is interesting is New Zealand elected not to field a team in the 2018 #PACC. Having not competed internationally this season may be the difference in contending for a playoff spot here or going home early. Can Becker ride the wave of home ice fan support?
Poland (Team Pluta) - And yet another nation looking for their first world championship appearance (notice a theme with the women's field?). Marta Pluta will look to make history for Polish curling and punch her nation a ticket in the world championship field. This was an interesting selection for Poland to send Pluta to New Zealand over Poland's rep at the European B-division, Marta Szeliga-Frynia. We have only seen Pluta once on tour this season, where she went 1-3 and missed the playoffs in Latvia. Szeliga-Frynia, on the other hand, reached the QF at her only #wct event (Tallinn). But perhaps her disappointing 7th place finish at the Euro B-division was a deciding factor. Either way it may be a long slide path for Poland and Team Pluta to find their spot in Denmark.
Projected Standings: 1. China 2. Finland 3. Hungary 4. Estonia 5. New Zealand 6. Hong Kong 7. Poland 8. Brazil
World Women's Curling Championship Qualifiers: China (Team Mei), Hungary (Team Palancsa)
What say you rock heads and stoners? Agree with the predictions? Disagree? Who are you cheering for? As always share your thoughts in the comment section of this blog post or on social media.
And don't forget to keep your eyes on this event all week. Sure Continental Cup in Las Vegas is exciting but remember these teams are competing for a chance to fight for a world championship, lots on the ice here.
#StayTuned
We have another big event hitting the ice this weekend back home in Canada. The Canadian Junior Curling Championships are set to go on Saturday as we watch the rocks fly towards crowning our 2019 Canadian champions and representatives for the World Junior Curling Championship in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Canada.
The #TwineTime blog will bring you an event preview SOON!!
And ICYMI, get caught up on the UPDATED #PowerRankings. See how the results of the #CanadianOpen caused a slight shake-up on the rankings mountain.
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