#BetweenTheSheets: The Skirmish in Silkeborg
Top women's curling teams battle for world supremacy in Denmark
The #MarchMadess continues rock heads!
No I don't mean the preparation for the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament (although this blog is a HUGE fan of that event as well). We are talking about the world championship excitement on the ice every March.
March is the penultimate month to the curling season. March is world championship month. Last week we crowned new world wheelchair curling champions. This week we prepare for the women's world championship in Silkeborg. And we end the month with the start of our men's world championship in Lethbridge, Alberta.
March is curling madness!!
2019 is year two of the new world championship format. We have increased the number of qualified nations to 13. We have expanded the playoff format to 6. We have added the World Qualification Event this year to round out the final two spots in the field. Change is happening.
Some people are still on the fence about these changes. Some argue 13 is too large of a field. Some dislike the 6-team playoff format. Why not take a little look back at the #FormatFrustrations post from a year ago where this blog presented different playoff brackets curling could start using, including the current 6-team format.
We saw similar debate last year when the Scotties and Brier field expanded and changed. Some were for. Some were against. One year later the debate fizzled off and people move on. I suspect similar feedback this year at the world championships. Sure some will still be against the expanded field or different playoff bracket but the complaining will be less and the grumblings will be quiet in comparison to a year ago.
Besides, from a #growthesport perspective, we have to try new things every once in awhile to see what sticks in the house for the winning point and which is just an unusable high guard waiting to be removed. Change is hard. But change can be fun!
In 2019, lets throw away the off-ice debate during the event. Lets focus on celebrating the action on the ice. Embrace the athletes competing and chasing their dreams of becoming world champions. Get excited to watch 13 nations battle it out for world championship glory. Bring on the madness!
For the #WWCC2019 preview, this blog is going to stick with the #MarchMadness theme. During the NCAA basketball tournament, teams are seeded based on their profiles and year-to-date results. A similar process will be used for this preview. All 13 teams will be seeded based on season results and profile. The seedings will also take into consideration the pilot #PowerRankings formula used this season by this very blog.
Could a #11 seed make the playoffs and win the championship? Of course! Heck last year we saw the first-ever #16 seed knock of a #1 seed in the tournament. Why could we not see a similar #TeamUpset result on the ice? A team may be seeded #9 or #12 below but should not be underestimated. On the flip side, the top overall seed at #1 may be considered the favourite but that does not always equate to championship glory. It is why we play the games and why we love sport. Any team can be beaten by any other team on any given day.
It is also worth noting under the new format teams will want to try and avoid finishing bottom of the standings and costing their zone an auto-spot for next year's championship. For example, should a #PACC team finish 13th this year, the zone would lose an auto-spot next year. This is what happened to Europe this year after Italy finished last in 2018. Even more unlucky for the European zone, as Denmark was the host nation, they lost two auto-spots. Nobody wants to be the reason their zone is down a qualifier and is forced to send more teams to the World Qualification Event the following season.
Lets reveal the seeds for #WWCC2019:
LGT World Women's Curling Championship
2018 Champion: Canada (Team Jennifer Jones)
Format: 13-team RR with Top 6 advancing to the playoffs. Top 2 teams earn bye to the SF.
(1) Sweden (Team Hasselborg) - Last year's silver medal winners will look to go one better one year later. The 2018 Olympic champions started the season looking like no Olympic hangover would derail them. They won the first two #gsoc titles of the season (inaugural Elite X, Masters), following a run to the opening leg final of the Curling World Cup. The #SwedishVikings won four straight events during the Fall portion of the season, adding the European Championship title and #wct win in Stockholm to their #gsoc triumphs. But then the hangover might have caught up to them just a bit. They lost in the QF at the National and failed to reach the playoffs at the Canadian Open. They missed the second leg final of the Curling World Cup and then lost the third leg final at home (to fellow #WWCC2019 competitor Team Kim from Korea). Collectively this is still one of the strongest and most consistent teams in the world and deserve the top seed going into the event. This will be the third straight world championship appearance, finishing 4th in 2017 and silver last year. Is this the year for Team Hasselborg?
(2) Switzerland (Team Tirinzoni) - If you put together a list of elite curlers with something to prove at a world championship this season, Silvana Tirinzoni may be at or near the top of the list. Tirinzoni will be making her 4th world championship appearance but first since 2013. She has failed to reach the playoffs each time. Enter Alina Paetz. Paetz is a former world champion, winning gold in 2012 as an alternate and skipping her own team to the top of the podium in 2015. This team has been solid all season building towards a world championship run. They went undefeated at the European Championships before falling in the championship final to rival Hasselborg. They have reached three other finals this season (Stu Sells Oakville, Elite X, Canadian Open) but came up short each time. They struggled a bit at the Swiss Championships, losing early and needing to win back-to-back games against former world champ Binia Feltscher. But these results also show how battle tested they are. They can go on winning streaks but also fight back from tough losses. This is going to be a very dangerous team this week and a real threat for gold.
(3) Russia (Team Kovaleva) - Still not getting a ton of love from the curling community, Team Kovaleva have masterminded an almost perfect season to boost their ranking and show their competition what a threat they really are. They own a season record of 69-26! They have already played 95 games this season folks. In their first five events of the season they won two events, reached two other finals and another QF. They went 6-3 at European's before losing a tough SF vs Hasselborg and the bronze medal match to Germany's Team Jentsch. They defeated Team Sidorova 4 games to 1 in the Best-of-7 to earn their spot in this field, with 4 of those 5 games coming down to final stones. Kovaleva arrives in Denmark fresh off winning Winter Universiade bronze. Some may not be familiar with this team but Kovaleva is a former world junior champ (2013) which should help her in her world championship skipping debut. Keep your eyes on this contender.
(4) Canada (Team Carey) - Some people may be a bit surprised with this ranking, expecting to see Carey at least one spot higher. But hear me out folks. The run Team Carey went on at the Scotties was amazing. They were consistent all week and Chelsea herself made some amazing shots to get this team out of trouble. The comeback in the final was historic and memorable for sure but it is two-fold as credit goes to the meltdown from their opposition who were in control the entire game. It has not been a stellar season for the new Team Canada. The title in Portage was nice but it was also surrounded by disappointing results at the Elite X, Tour Challenge and Canada Cup. The SF run at the Masters and QF at the Canadian Open were bright spots though plus they did go undefeated at the Alberta Scotties. The question on this team is which team shows up? The Scotties winning team or the #gsoc struggling team? Carey will want to erase the disappointment of her first world championship appearance, where she finished 4th and missed booking an auto spot at the Olympic trials. The rest of her team will be world championship rookies so they will be looking to their skipper for leadership on and off the ice. This will also be the first real international test for Carey as her first world championship appearance was in friendly home surroundings of Canada (Swift Current) plus added pressure to #DefendTheIce. Perhaps the lack of Canadian fans and pressure could be her wild card advantage though?
(5) Korea (Team Kim) - The true wild cards of the event come from a nation on the rise, Korea's Team Kim. What should we expect from the junior's making their world women's debut? It could be as simple as "Expect the Unexpected"? Could this team reach the playoffs and land on the podium? Sure. Could they wilt under the pressure of the big ice and finish mid-pack? Absolutely. Anything and everything is on the table here. This may be skipper Min-ji Kim's first world women's championship, she is no stranger to big events. Kim has represented Korea at the past three world junior championships, winning bronze in 2016. Kim, only 19 years of age remember, also won the #PACC championship this season and shocked the world by winning the third leg of the Curling World Cup (knocking off home nation fav and Olympic champs Team Hasselborg in the final). Not to mention reaching the Curling World Cup leg two final in Omaha plus winning silver at the 2019 Winter Universiade as a tune-up for this event. This team is past the #TeamUpset category now folks and into the Watch Out For grouping.
(6) Germany (Team Jentsch) - The #TeamUpset playoff pick folks: Germany's Team Jentsch! While a few other teams will be making their debut or second/third world championship appearance, skipper Dani Jentsch has been here before. 2019 marks her 6th world championship appearance and 5th straight. And while the results have not been what she would hope for (6th, 9th, 10th, 9th, 12th) this could be her best shot at making the playoffs. Team Jentsch has been solid this season on tour. Sure they failed to qualify in their opening 4 #wct events but perhaps those results were growing pains of a slightly altered new team? After finishing 4th at a tournament in Switzerland everything came together at the European Championships in Estonia. Jentsch would reach the playoffs for the first time and collect her first Euro medal, winning bronze after defeating Kovaleva. The breakthrough moment of a career perhaps? The team would continue building momentum, collecting a tour title in China along with 2 SF finishes and a QF finish leading into the world championship. The key for this team is momentum. If they are open the event with a 2-1 or 2-2 record, they go into the heart of the week fully in the thick of the standings. If they start slow and sit 1-2 or 1-3, the negative psychology could come into play and hinder their chances. How this team plays all week could quickly be decided opening weekend. #StayTuned but also watch out!
(7) USA (Team Sinclair) - Jamie Sinclair is back, making her sophomore world championship appearance after her debut last year. In 2018 Sinclair reached the playoff round with a 6-6 record and really opened the #FormatFrustrations debate when she won her QF match against 8-3 Korea to book a spot in the SF. She would go on to lose to eventual champion Canada and finish 4th overall. But the debate started with the real threat of possibly seeing a 6-6 team win the world title. Oh no, imagine!? Well Sinclair is back for Round 2 and looking to erase the debate from last year and finish with a better record and make a push for the podium once again. But it will not be easy. The team sports a sub-.500 record on the season (29-31) and have struggled at times. They have only qualified in 2 of 10 events this season. On the positive they dominated the USA Curling National Championships, posting a 6-1 record and knocking off rival Team Roth in the 1vs2 and gold medal final. A repeat 6-6 or 7-5 finish is for sure possible but so is a 5-7 record and outside the playoffs. The playoff experience from a year ago could be the ace in the hole for Sinclair as the week goes on. Her high seed here is carrying over results from last season in comparison to the next few teams seeded below.
(8) Japan (Team Nakajima) - Lets go back to the growth of the #PACC region, what about Japan's Team Nakajima? It has been an interesting story to watch this team develop over the years. Chiaki Matsumura started the season as skip, having skipped the previous two seasons as well, but throwing vice stones. Ikue Kitazawa moved up from second to throw fourth stones. Seina Nakajima became a full-time member of the team after serving as alternate the past two seasons and moved into throwing second stones. However, the team quickly reshuffled and Nakajima moved into the skipper role while still throwing second stones and Matsumura was listed as fourth. Lineup shuffles aside, this team has shown to be a real dark horse all season on tour. There have been high points, going undefeated at the Japanese national championships and winning a tour title in Karuizawa. There have been low points, failing to qualify in 6 of 10 events. The final one or two playoff spots in Denmark are really up for grabs from a handful of teams. Nakajima is one of those teams.
(9) Scotland (Team Jackson) - Looking for the surprise of the field? Look no further than Scotland's Sophie Jackson and her team from Dumfries. Who expected them to emerge from the Scottish Championships as the winner? Perhaps even more surprising given they lost their opening game to Team Morrison but then went on a 6-game winning streak to claim the title, including going 3-0 vs. perennial favourite Eve Muirhead. Ok it hasn't been a stellar tour season for this young team, lets be honest. They have only qualified in 1 of 10 events and they lost in the QF. But they have built some positive momentum arriving in Denmark. After their stunning Scottish title win they represented their home nation at the 2019 Winter Universiade, reaching the playoffs but losing the SF and bronze medal games to finish 4th overall. A threat for the title, probably not. But a team who could knock off a few higher seeds and make an outside push for the playoffs? Perhaps.
(10) China (Team Wang) - At first glance you may think this team refers to legendary Chinese world champion Bingyu Wang but you would be mistaken. China is represented this year by Rui Wang. You may be more familiar with Wang if you follow mixed doubles where she and partner Ba Dexin won a world silver medal in 2016, world bronze medal in 2017 and represented China in the discipline at the 2018 Winter Olympics. But don't let the mixed doubles resume fool you either as Wang will be making her 5th world championship appearance and 3rd consecutive. From a tour season perspective you may be more familiar with this team under the name Team Jie Mei. For the majority of the season Mei has been the skip while Wang has been vice. The team has played 8 tour events, qualifying in 4 and reaching 1 championship final (Red Deer). For a nation, China took the long road to qualify for this year's championship. After a 3rd place finish at the #PACC, China was forced to compete at the World Qualification Event. The association decided to not sent the same team whom represented them at the #PACC (Team Jiang) and decided to select Team Mei instead. The team would finish with a 6-1 RR record and book the first ticket out of the event when they knocked off Finland in the 1vs2 game. It will be interesting to see how the lineup change affects the team this week. Mei has dropped to vice in favour of Wang moving to skip. Will the change help or hinder their playoff chances?
(11) Latvia (Team Stasa-Sarsune) - There were a few feel good stories in Tallinn last November at the European Championships but one of the best stories came from Latvia's Team Stasa-Sarsune. Latvia returned to the A-division last year after finishing runner-up at the 2017 B-division competition. Heading to Estonia, most people were not expecting Latvia to contend let alone survive relegation. Surprise, surprise, surprise. Not only did they avoid relegation, they finished in 5th place with a 5-6 record (a career best) and one game out of a TB playoff spot. They knocked off Denmark (Dupont), Scotland (Muirhead) and Czech Republic (Kubeskova) to name a few big wins. The result also secured their spot in this field, avoiding not only European relegation but also the World Qualification Event. For skip Iveta Stasa-Sarsune this will be her 3rd world championship appearance, hoping to do better than her previous two appearances where she finished last with 1-10 records. The team has only played 3 tour events this season, reaching the QF once at their home event in Latvia. We have not seen them on competitive ice since the stunning run in Estonia either. Capable of #TeamUpset results for sure but the ice rust is a concern against a very strong field.
(12) Denmark (Team Dupont) - The host nation will look to the face of women's Danish curling over the past 15 years Madeleine Dupont. Dupont has a resume full of international success. She has found the podium at two world championships, winning silver in 2007 and bronze in 2009. She is a two-time Olympian as well, representing her home nation in 2010 and 2018. Interesting fact on Dupont, she holds a unique resume distinction of winning a medal at the world junior and world women's championships in the same year when she won junior bronze and women's silver in 2007. Based on the season rankings Dupont comes into this championship as the lowest ranked team in the field. Outside of the 3-6 record they compiled at the European Championships we have only seen this team compete in one another event, the China Open where they finished 3-4. The experience factor can help but the lack of competitive ice time could hinder them, especially early on. Hopefully the Danish crowd can provide some energy and motivation in close games though.
(13) Finland (Team Kauste) - This was a tough call. Oona Kauste is an experienced skip. This year will be her third world championship appearance, previously competing in 2015 (2-9) and 2016 (1-10). She has also competed in numerous European Championships with a best result being a bronze medal win in 2015. But at the 2018 Euro's the wheels kind of fell off the Finnish Express when the team finished 9th with a 2-7 record. The result relegated Finland to the B-division for next season. Kauste did receive a glimmer of light on the year though when Czech Republic and Norway decided not to send representation to the World Qualification Event, handing Finland a spot and a second lease on world championship life for Kauste. The team would not let the opportunity go to waste as they went 7-0 in the RR, lost the 1vs2 game but earned the final spot in this field when they defeated Hungary. From a tour perspective, Kauste did collect a title this season winning their season-opening event in Tallinn. They reached another championship final late October in Latvia. The biggest obstacle for this team is consistency. They look strong one game but then struggle for the next few. In this field you cannot get down early against the big names and you need to get positive momentum on your side, something Kauste has struggled with in her past two appearances.
Projected Standings: 1. Switzerland 2. Sweden 3. Korea 4. Russia 5. Canada 6. Germany 7. Japan 8. China 9. USA 10. Latvia 11. Denmark 12. Scotland 13. Finland
Qualifiers: Switzerland, Sweden, Korea, Russia, Canada, Germany
Bronze Medal: Switzerland (Tirinzoni) def. Korea (Kim)
World Women's Curling Championship GOLD MEDAL: Sweden (Hasselborg) def. Russia (Kovaleva)
What say you rock heads? Agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts on social media and remember to use the hashtag #WWCC2019. You can also catch live RR action all week via the World Curling Federation.
#StayTuned
The Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championships hit the ice in New Brunswick next week. The #TwineTime blog will bring you a full #CMDCC2019 preview early next week.
Good luck and good #curling to all 13 teams competing this week in Denmark.
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