MEDIA GUIDE WORLD MIXED DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 Östersund Arena, Oestersund, Sweden 21-28 April 2018

World Mixed Championship 2018 – MEDIA GUIDE

1. Links and Contacts

Event website: http://worldcurling.org/wmdcc2018 Swedish Curling Association: http://curling.se

Facebook: https://facebook.com/WorldCurlingFederation Twitter and Instagram: @worldcurling Hashtags: #WMDCC2018 #curling

Photography: http://photos.worldcurling.org Statistics: http://results.worldcurling.org

Local Organising Committee Media Operations: e: [email protected] Jörgen Nilsson

World Curling Federation Communications and Media Relations Manager: e: [email protected] Cameron MacAllister p: +7937 604957

Broadcast Manager: e: [email protected] Joanna Kelly p: +372 592 442 35

2. Officials

World Curling Federation

President Kate Caithness Director of Competitions and Development Keith Wendorf Technical Delegate Darrell Ell

Local Organising Committee

Chairman Rickard Hallström

Officials

Chief Umpire Ken McArton (CAN) Deputy Chief Umpire Anne Malcolm (SCO) Game Umpires Marg White (CAN) Ki Gennemark (SWE) Johan Fahlström (SWE) Joaquim Reimertz (SWE) Jens Rigtrop (SWE) Chief Timer Graham Batchelor (CAN) Deputy Chief Timer James Hustler (ENG) Statistics Christian Saager (SUI) Nadine Saager (SUI) Natalia Yanina (RUS) Chief Ice Technician Jamie Bourassa (CAN) Deputy Chief Ice Technicians Susan Thornton (CAN) Patrik Kapralik (SVK)

www.worldcurling.org World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2018 – MEDIA GUIDE

3. Spirit of Curling

Curling is a game of skill and tradition. A shot well executed is a delight to see and it is also a fine thing to observe the time-honoured traditions of curling being applied in the true spirit of the game. Curlers play to win, but never to humble their opponents. A true curler never attempts to distract opponents, nor to prevent them from playing their best, and would prefer to lose rather than win unfairly.

Curlers never knowingly break a rule of the game, nor disrespect any of its traditions. Should they become aware that this has been done inadvertently, they will be the first to divulge the breach.

While the main object of the game of curling is to determine the relevant skills of the players, the spirit of curling demands good sportsmanship, kindly feeling and honourable conduct.

4. Anti-Doping

The Anti-Doping Rules of the World Curling Federation will apply: ● http://www.worldcurling.org/rules-and-regulations ● http://www.worldcurling.org/anti-doping-and-medical

5. Venue

Östersund Arena Arenavägen 27 831 91 Oestersund http://ostersund.se/uppleva-och-gora/idrott-fritid-och-friluftsliv/idrottshallar/ostersund-arena.html +46 63 14 30 00

6. Mixed Doubles Curling

Instead of playing in teams of four, mixed doubles curling is for teams of two players – one male and one female, and there is no alternate player: http://www.worldcurling.org/mixed-doubles- curling

• The game is played on the same sheets of ice as ‘traditional’ curling. • Teams have only six stones each (instead of eight) and one of those stones, from each team, is prepositioned on the centre line before each end of play starts. • Player one delivers the first and last stones and player two plays the second, third and fourth stones. If they choose to, the two players may swap positions from one end to the next. • Sweeping can be done by both team members. • Each team receives 22 minutes of thinking time and games are scheduled for eight ends – compared to 38 minutes and ten ends for ‘traditional’ curling. • For more information on Mixed Doubles see Appendix I.

www.worldcurling.org World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2018 – MEDIA GUIDE

7. Mixed Doubles Curling Championships

The first World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship was held in Vierumaaki, Finland in 2008, where Swiss pair Toni Mueller and won gold.

Mixed Doubles was accepted as an Olympic discipline in June 2015 and made its Olympic Winter Games debut at PyeongChang 2018, in the Republic of Korea. ’s and were crowned Olympic champions and the new discipline was deemed a success.

8. Rules and System of Play

The competition will be played under the World Curling Federation rules, as published in the Rules of Curling and the Rules of Competition Booklet (October 2017) http://worldcurling.org/rules-and-regulations-downloads

The competition will be played in the following stages:

1) The 40 teams are in five groups, based on a World Curling Federation ranking established over the last three years. Each group plays a round robin. At the end of the round robin there will be a ranking for first (1st), second (2nd), third (3rd) and fourth (4th) position in each group. The top three teams in each group qualify directly for the 1/8 finals, as well as the fourth (4th) ranked team with the best DSC result. The overall ranking for the 16 teams that qualify for the play-offs will be determined as follows:

• # 1 Ranking - best DSC of the 1st ranked teams • # 2 Ranking - 2nd best DSC of the 1st ranked teams • # 3 Ranking - 3rd best DSC of the 1st ranked teams • # 4 Ranking - 4th best DSC of the 1st ranked teams • # 5 Ranking - 5th best DSC of the 1st ranked teams • # 6 Ranking - best DSC of the 2nd ranked teams • # 7 Ranking - 2nd best DSC of the 2nd ranked teams • # 8 Ranking - 3rd best DSC of the 2nd ranked teams • # 9 Ranking - 4th best DSC of the 2nd ranked teams • #10 Ranking - 5th best DSC of the 2nd ranked teams • #11 Ranking - best DSC of the 3rd ranked teams • #12 Ranking - 2nd best DSC of the 3rd ranked teams • #13 Ranking - 3rd best DSC of the 3rd ranked teams • #14 Ranking - 4th best DSC of the 3rd ranked teams • #15 Ranking - 5th best DSC of the 3rd ranked teams • #16 Ranking - best DSC of the 4th ranked teams

2) Quarter-finals > Semi-finals > Finals 3) There will be additional play-off games to clearly determine the top 12 teams

Games: All games are scheduled to be eight ends. Tied games will be decided by extra end(s). A minimum of six ends must be completed in all games.

Game Timing: Each team will receive 22 minutes of thinking time for an eight-end game and three minutes of thinking time for each extra-end.

www.worldcurling.org World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2018 – MEDIA GUIDE

Team Ranking Procedure: Teams will be ranked at the conclusion of the round-robin stage in accordance with Rule C9.

(a) During the round-robin portion of a competition, teams with the same win-loss record will be listed alphabetically by their three-letter code and ranked equal.

(b) The following criteria (in order) will be used to rank the teams at the completion of the round robin: (i) Teams will be ranked according to their win/loss record; (ii) If two teams are tied, the team that won their round-robin game will be ranked higher; (iii) Where three or more teams are tied, the record of the games between the tied teams shall provide the ranking (should this procedure provide a ranking for some teams but not all, then the record of the games between the remaining teams that are still tied shall determine the ranking); (iv) For all remaining teams, whose ranking cannot be determined by (i) or (ii) or (iii), ranking is determined using the Draw Shot Challenge (DSC).

Last Stone Draw (LSD) and placement of first end stone: For all round-robin games both players will deliver one stone each to the tee at the home end. The first stone must be delivered with a clockwise rotation, the second stone with a counter-clockwise rotation. Only the two players can be on the ice surface during the LSD. The two LSDs are added together and the team with the lesser LSD total distance will have the choice of the placement of the stones for the first end. If the LSD totals for both teams are the same, the individual LSD stones are compared and the best non-equal

LSD has choice of stone placement. When both teams have the exact same individual LSD stone distances a coin toss will be used to determine that choice.

Draw Shot Challenge (DSC): The DSC is the average of all the LSD stones which were played by a team during the round-robin (12 stones). The two least favourable results will be eliminated before calculating this average distance.

Stones: The curling stones used at this championship are stones belonging to the WCF Set 5B.

Colour of Stone: The team listed first in the draw will play the stones with the dark coloured handles; the team listed second will play the stones with the light-coloured handles.

www.worldcurling.org World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2018 – MEDIA GUIDE

9. How teams qualified for WMDCC 2018

The World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship is an entry event for the World Curling Federations 60 Member Associations. A total of 40 teams will compete in Oestersund.

10. Groups

GROUP-A (black) GROUP-B (red) GROUP-C (blue)

AUS - Australia BLR - Belarus EST - Estonia

ITA - Italy CRO - Croatia FIN - Finland

LAT - Latvia DEN - Denmark JPN - Japan

LUX - Luxembourg ENG - England KAZ - Kazakhstan

NED - Netherlands HUN - Hungary LTU - Lithuania

SLO - Slovenia NOR - Norway NZL - New Zealand

SUI - ROU - Romania POL - Poland

USA - United States TUR - Turkey RUS - Russia

GROUP-D (yellow fill) GROUP-E (blue fill)

CHN - China AUT - Austria

ESP - Spain BRA - Brazil

FRA - France CAN - Canada

HKG - Hong Kong CZE - Czech Republic

ISR - Israel GER - Germany

SCO - Scotland GUY - Guyana

SVK - Slovakia IRL - Ireland

SWE - Sweden KOR - Korea

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11. Schedule of Play

1 09:00 NED v LAT AUS v ITA LUX v USA CRO v DEN SCO v ISR 2 12:30 KOR v AUT KAZ v FIN IRL v CAN FRA v CHN SVK v SWE Sat 21 Apr All 15:00 Opening Ceremonies with World Senior Teams 3 16:30 ENG v HUN ROU v NOR RUS v LTU BLR v TUR ESP v HKG 4 20:00 JPN v NZL GUY v GER POL v EST SLO v SUI BRA v CZE 5 0800 ESP v FRA ENG v TUR BLR v ROU DEN v NOR CRO v HUN 6 1115 LAT v LUX NZL v LTU KAZ v RUS JPN v EST GUY v KOR Sun 22 Apr 7 1430 FIN v POL CZE v IRL AUS v SUI BRA v GER CAN v AUT 8 1745 CHN v SWE ESP v ISR FRA v HKG SVK v SCO SLO v LAT 9 2100 RUS v EST CAN v BRA NED v LUX ITA v USA FIN v NZL 10 0800 HKG v SVK SCO v FRA CHN v ISR IRL v KOR LAT v AUS 11 1115 CAN v GUY CRO v BLR BRA v AUT SWE v ESP POL v LTU Mon 23 Apr 12 1430 TUR v DEN SVK v CHN ROU v HUN ISR v HKG KOR v GER 13 1745 ITA v NED LUX v SUI SCO v SWE NZL v RUS USA v SLO 14 2100 LTU v KAZ JPN v POL NOR v ENG GER v CZE EST v FIN 15 0800 BRA v KOR HUN v DEN SLO v AUS TUR v ROU NED v SUI 16 1115 GER v IRL USA v LAT LTU v FIN AUT v GUY KAZ v EST Tue 24 Apr 17 1430 BLR v ENG ITA v SLO NZL v POL AUS v LUX RUS v JPN 18 1745 ROU v CRO HKG v SCO USA v NED CZE v CAN NOR v TUR 19 2100 SWE v ISR CHN v ESP ENG v DEN GUY v IRL FRA v SVK 20 0800 CRO v NOR LTU v JPN LAT v ITA POL v KAZ GER v CAN 21 1115 AUT v CZE FRA v SWE ESP v SCO HUN v BLR HKG v CHN Wed 25 Apr 22 1430 SUI v ITA EST v NZL ISR v SVK ENG v CRO JPN v KAZ 23 1745 HUN v TUR IRL v AUT GUY v BRA RUS v FIN BLR v NOR 24 2100 LUX v SLO SUI v USA KOR v CZE NED v AUS DEN v ROU 25 0900 SVK v ESP SWE v HKG AUT v GER EST v LTU IRL v BRA 26 1230 AUS v USA KOR v CAN CZE v GUY KAZ v NZL ISR v FRA Thu 26 Apr 27 1600 SCO v CHN SLO v NED FIN v JPN SUI v LAT LUX v ITA 28 1930 DEN v BLR POL v RUS TUR v CRO NOR v HUN ROU v ENG 1st 1/8 0900 1/8 Final session (Games 1, 2, 3 & 4) 2nd 1/8 1230 1/8 Final session (Games 5, 6, 7, & 8) Fri 27 Apr 1/4 F-L 1600 Losers of the 1/8 Finals (B-side Games 21, 22, 23 & 24)

1/4 F-W 1930 Winners of the 1/8 Finals (A-side Games 9, 10, 11, & 12) 1/2 B 0830 Semi-Finals (B-side Games 25 & 26)

Semi-Finals (A-side Games 13 & 14) + 1/2 A 1200 Sat 28 Apr Losers 1/4 Finals A-side (Games 15 & 16) + Loser B-side semi-Finals (Game 28)

Finals 1600 Medal Games (17 & 18) + Ranking Games (19 & 20) + Final of the B-side (Game 27)

MD 1800 Medal Ceremonies and Closing Ceremonies with World Senior Teams

www.worldcurling.org

12. Play-off chart

B-SIDE OF THE PLAYOFFS (LOST 1/8 GAME) A-SIDE OF THE PLAYOFFS (WON 1/8 GAME) FINALS SEMI-FINALS 1/4 FINALS 1/8 FINALS 1/4 FINALS SEMI-FINALS FINALS Winners è ç Losers GAME 1 1 v 16 GAME 21 GAME 9 GAME 2 8 v 9 GAME 25 GAME 13 GAME 3 5 v 12 GAME 22 GAME 10 GAME 4 GAME 27 4 v 13 GAME 17 Gold = 1st Winner = 9th GAME 5 3 v 14 GAME 23 GAME 11 GAME 6 Lost the final Lost this game = 10th 6 v 11 Silver = 2nd GAME 26 GAME 14 GAME 7 7 v 10 GAME 24 GAME 12 GAME 8 2 v 15

Winner = 11th GAME 28 LOST GAMES 25/26 LOST GAMES 13/14 GAME 18 Bronze = 3rd

Lost this game = 12th Lost Bronze = 4th

GAMES DATE & TIME LOST 1/4 FINALS GAME 15 1 - 4 Friday, 27 April at 09:00 Games 9 & 10 5 - 8 Friday, 27 April at 12:30 21 - 24 Friday, 27 April at 16:00 GAME 19 Winner = 5th 9 - 12 Friday, 27 April at 19:30 25 & 26 Saturday, 28 April at 08:30 LOST 1/4 FINALS GAME 16 Lost this game = 6th 13 - 16 & 28 Saturday, 28 April at 12:00 Games 11 & 12 17-20 & 27 Saturday, 28 April at 16:00

LOST GAME 15/16 GAME 20 Winner = 7th Lost this game = 8th

13. Teams

AUS - AUSTRALIA ITA - ITALY

F HEWITT Lynn R F ZAPPONE Veronica R

M HEWITT Dean R M GONIN Simone R

C MANASANTIVONGS Pete C GRAN Soren

AUT - AUSTRIA JPN - JAPAN

F WEGHUBER Anna R F FUJISAWA Satsuki R

M SCHAGERL Markus R M YAMAGUCHI Tsuyoshi R

C KAPP Uli C LIND James

World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2018 – MEDIA GUIDE

BLR - BELARUS KAZ - KAZAKHSTAN

F TARSUNOVA Tatsiana R F

M SHALAMITSKI Ilya L M

C TAMKOVICH Yevgeny C

BRA - BRAZIL KOR - KOREA

F GONCALVES Aline R F LEE Kijeong R

M CERQUINHO Marcio L M JANG Heyji R

C SCOFFIN Wade C JANG Banseok

CAN - CANADA LAT - LATVIA

F CROCKER Laura F BLUMBERGA Santa R

M MUYERS Kirk M GULBIS Ritvars R

C STOUGHTON Jeff C AVOTINS Aivars

CHN - CHINA LTU - LITHUANIA

F F PAULAUSKAITE Virginija

M M VYSKUPAITIS Tadas

C C GULKA Allen

CRO - CROATIA LUX - LUXEMBOURG

F FABIJANIC Lucija R F WAUTERS Karen

M GOLUBIC Ognjen R M ETIENNE Marco

C C EGER Daniel

CZE - CZECH REPUBLIC NED - NETHERLANDS

F HAJKOVA Zuzana L F BOMAS Lisenka R

M PAUL Tomas R M BOMAS Bob R

C ASKEW Brad C

DEN - DENMARK NOR - NORWAY

F GRONBECH Christine Vita F

M GRONBECH Martin Uhd M

C SVENSEN Per C

ENG - ENGLAND NZL - NEW ZEALAND

F FOWLER Anna R F ADVIENTO Eleanor

M JAEGGI Tom R M SARGON Brett

C PATRICK Nigel C MOSS Michael

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ESP - SPAIN POL - POLAND

F GARCIA Irantzu R F

M GARCIA Gontzal L M

C LINDSTRÖM Kristian C

EST - ESTONIA ROU - ROMANIA

F TURMANN Marie R F TRAILA Iulia R

M LILL Harri R M COLIBAN Allen R

C STRAUSAK Nicole C

FIN - FINLAND RUS - RUSSIA

F KAUSTE Oona F KOMAROVA Maria R

M RANTAMÄKI Tomi M GORIACHEV Daniil R

C C GUDIN Vasily

FRA - FRANCE SCO - SCOTLAND

F MORAND Sandrine R F STIRLING Jayne R

M BORINI Romain R M KINGAN Fraser R

C RAZAFIMAHEFA Chrislain C McCLEARY Judith

GER - GERMANY SLO - SLOVENIA

F MEISSNER Julia F KREMZAR Nina R

M BUETTNER Andy M ZAGAR Lan R

C FRANKE Robert C

GUY - GUYANA SUI - SWITZERLAND

F HUSSAIN Farzana R F JAEGGI Michele

M HUSAIN Rayad R M MICHEL Sven

C C STOCK Sebastian

HKG - HONG KONG SVK - SLOVAKIA

F HUNG Ling-Yue F MATULOVA Daniela R

M CHANG Jason M MORAVCIK Milan R

C COLLINS Rick C

HUN - HUNGARY SWE - SWEDEN

F SZEKERES Ildiko R F NOREEN Camilla

M NAGY György L M NORREN Per

C HORNE Darryl C KREVIAZUK Alison

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IRL - IRELAND TUR - TURKEY

F WARD Jen R F

M McCROSSAN Eoin R M

C FUREY John C

ISR - ISRAEL USA - UNITED STATES

F SONE Elana F ANDERSON Sarah

M RIVKIND Leonid M DROPKIN Korey

C PACK Simon C HIGGS Jake

14. Past Mixed Doubles Curling Championship results

All-time

Year Medal Country Team Record Played in

Gold Switzerland , 10-0

2017 Silver Canada , 8-3 Lethbridge, Canada

Bronze China Rui Wang, Dexin Ba 9-2 , Alexander Gold Russia 9-1 Krushelnitckiy 2016 Silver China Rui Wang, Dexin Ba 8-2 Karlstad, Sweden

Bronze USA , Joseph Polo 9-1

Gold Hungary Dorottya Palancsa, 11-1

2015 Silver Sweden Camilla Johansson, Per Noreen 9-3 Sochi, Russia , Magnus Bronze Norway 11-1 Nedregotten Gold Switzerland , 9-1

2014 Silver Sweden Camilla Johansson, Per Noreen 10-1 Dumfries, Scotland

Bronze Spain , 8-3

Gold Hungary Dorottya Palancsa, Zsolt Kiss 10-1 Elisabeth Norredahl, Fredrik Fredericton, 2013 Silver Sweden 8-3 Hallström Canada Czech Bronze Zuzana Hajkova, Tomas Paul 9-3 Republic Gold Switzerland , Martin Rios 11-0 2012 Erzurum, Turkey Silver Sweden Camilla Johansson, Per Noreen 8-3

www.worldcurling.org World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2018 – MEDIA GUIDE Bronze Austria Claudia Toth, Christian Roth 7-4

Gold Switzerland Alina Pätz, 10-0

2011 Silver Russia Alina Kovaleva, Alexey Tselousov 7-3 St Paul, Minn, USA

Bronze France Pauline Jeanneret, Amaury Pernette 8-2

Gold Russia Yana Nekrasova, Petr Dron 9-0 Chelyabinsk, 2010 Silver New Zealand Bridget Becker, 5-2 Russia Bronze China Zhipeng Zhang, Yue Sun 6-3

Gold Switzerland Irene Schori, Toni Müller 10-0 Cortina d'Ampezzo, 2009 Silver Hungary Ildikó Szekeres, György Nagy 10-3 Italy Bronze Canada Allison Nimik, Sean Grassie 9-1

Gold Switzerland Irene Schori, Toni Müller 9-0

2008 Silver Finland , Jussi Uusipaavalniemi 8-2 Vierumäki, Finland

Bronze Sweden Marie Persson, Göran Carlsson 6-3

2017

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total

Switzerland * 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 4 6 B Canada 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 5

Position Record Association

1 10 - 0 Switzerland

Martin Rios, Jenny Perret

2 8 - 3 Canada

Reid Carruthers, Joanne Courtney

3 9 - 2 China

Dexin Ba, Rui Wang

4 8 - 3 Czech Republic

Tomas Paul, Zuzana Hajkova

5 9 - 2 Norway

Magnus Nedregotten, Kristin Moen Skaslien

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6 9 - 2 Korea

Ki Jeong Lee, Hyeji Jang

7 7 - 4 Finland

Tomi Rantamäki,

8 8 - 3 Latvia

Andris Bremanis, Santa Blumberga

9 8 - 2 Russia

Aleksandr Krushelnitckii, Anastasia Bryzgalova

10 9 - 2 United States of America

Matthew Hamilton, Rebecca Hamilton

11 9 - 2 Scotland

Bruce Mouat,

12 6 - 5 Italy

Simone Gonin, Veronica Zappone

13 4 - 5 Ireland

Neil Fyfe, Alison Fyfe

13 4 - 4 Spain

Gontzal Garcia Vez, Irantzu Garcia Vez

13 5 - 4 Hungary

Zsolt Kiss, Dorottya Palancsa

13 5 - 4 Sweden

Per Noréen, Camilla Noreen

17 4 - 3 England

Ben Fowler, Anna Fowler

18 3 - 4 Australia

Dean Hewitt, Lynn Hewitt

19 3 - 4 Japan

Shinya Abe, Ayumi Ogasawara

20 2 - 4 Slovenia

Jure Culic, Ajda Zavrtanik Drglin

21 2 - 5 Germany

Andy Büttner, Julia Meissner

22 3 - 4 Belarus

Ilya Shalamitski, Ekaterina Kirillova

23 2 - 5 Wales

Adrian Meikle, Dawn Watson

www.worldcurling.org World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2018 – MEDIA GUIDE Position Record Association

24 3 - 4 Austria

Christian Roth, Claudia Fischer

25 2 - 4 Slovakia

David Misun, Silvia Sykorova

26 2 - 5 Israel

Leonid Rivkind, Rachel Katzman

27 2 - 5 Turkey

Alican Karatas, Dilsat Yildiz

28 3 - 4 Brazil

Marcio Cerquinho, Anne Shibuya

29 2 - 4 New Zealand

Scott Becker, Bridget Becker

30 2 - 5 Denmark

Kasper Wiksten, Natalie Asp Wiksten

31 2 - 5 France

Romain Borini, Sandrine Morand

32 2 - 5 Estonia

Erkki Lill, Maile Mölder

33 2 - 5 Poland

Damian Herman, Karolina Florek

34 2 - 5 Bulgaria

Reto Seiler, Marina Yaneva

35 0 - 6 Romania

Allen Coliban, Iulia Ioana Traila

36 0 - 7 Netherlands

Thomas Kooi, Bonnie Nilhamn

37 0 - 7 Croatia

Mislav Martinic, Iva Roso

38 0 - 7 Kazakhstan

Viktor Kim, Diana Torkina

39 0 - 7 Serbia

Bojan Mijatovic, Dara Gravara-Stojanovic

www.worldcurling.org World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2018 – MEDIA GUIDE

15. About Swedish Curling Association

The Swedish Curling Association was formed in 1916 and joined the International Curling Federation in 1966. It was one of the founding members of the ICF that was to change its name to the World Curling Federation in 1990.

There are approximately 5,000 curlers in Sweden and they curl in 35 ice facilities throughout the country.

Sweden has won the World Men’s Curling Championship seven times: 2015 - Halifax, Canada - / 2013 - Victoria, Canada - Niklas Edin / 2004 - Gavle, Sweden - Peja Lindholm / 2001 - Lausanne, Switzerland - Peja Lindholm / 1997 - Berne, Switzerland - Peja Lindholm / 1977 - Karlstad, Sweden - Ragnar Kamp / 1973 - Regina, Canada - Kjell Oscarius).

Sweden’s women’s curling teams have been the second most successful in the history of the World Women’s Curling Championship (after Canada) winning the title eight times (2011, 2006, 2005, 1999, 1998, 1995, 1992 & 1981).

Sweden’s performance at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games saw them take silver in the women’s competition and bronze in the men’s.

Under a new high performance programme there is no a longer an automatic entry for the team that wins the Swedish Championships to the World Curling Championships – teams are now selected by the national coach – three-time world champion Peja Lindholm.

Härnösand Curling Academy began in 1989 with seven students – selected from all over Sweden for their curling talent. The academy offers them the chance to combine their high school studies with an elite curling training programme.

Today, the academy counts 18 students between the ages of 16 and 18.

The success of the Härnösand curling academy spawned a new one in Östersund (home town of Peja Lindholm) in 2013.

Rinks in Sweden: 35 dedicated rinks | Curlers in Sweden: 5000 members.

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16. More information

Power adaptors: In Sweden the standard voltage is 230V. The standard frequency is 50Hz. The power sockets that are used are of type F. You can use your electric appliances in Sweden if the standard voltage in your country is in between 220V – 240V. If your appliance states “INPUT: 100-240V, 50/50HZ” it can be used in all countries of the world.

Currency: Swedish Krona (SEK) – The monetary unit is the Krona (pl. kronor); one Krona=100 Ore.̈

Bank notes are printed in values of 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 kronor. Coins are 1, 5 and 10 kronor. 1000kr-notes are not very common in everyday life. Better stay with the smaller ones.

Most well- known exchange offices are Forex (yellow signs). Most banks, the manned ones, can also exchange foreign currency.

Credit cards are accepted almost everywhere except maybe at small cafés. Visa and MasterCard (MC) are the most common and American Express (Amex) is not always accepted.

Use your Debit card – everywhere in Sweden merchants encourage cashless transaction even buying read from convenience shop; some do not even accept cash (e.g.: public transport).

The suggestion, bring a small amount of cash, then carry along your debit card, if not use your credit card. Euros are accepted at the bigger stores, but not always at a good rate.

Currency exchange rates may be found at:

● XE Currency Converter - www.xe.com

You will find Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) all around the city accepting major credit and debit cards.

Water: Tap water in Oestersund, Sweden is safe to drink.

IN AN EMERGENCY CALL: 112

00 is the International Dialling Code you use to make an overseas call from within Sweden. 46 is the International Country Code to call Sweden. 63 Karlstad area code.

www.worldcurling.org World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2018 – MEDIA GUIDE

What is Mixed Doubles curling?

Mixed Doubles is a dynamic form of curling, where it is all about stone positioning, a lot of play to the four-foot circle and a lot about angles. It is a faster version of curling that only requires two players on each team.

Mixed Doubles Curling will make its debut on the Olympic Winter Games programme at the games in PyeongChang, Republic of Korea, in 2018.

Rules of Mixed Doubles curling

Mixed Doubles is played by two players. One male and one female on each team. Both teams play five stones each and start every end with one stone that has been pre-placed, so the maximum amount of points in each end is six.

In most ends, the pre-placed stones, will be positioned so that the team with last stone advantage (hammer) will start the end with one stone at the back of the four-foot circle. The team without the last stone advantage, will start with a centre guard.

There is also a ’Power Play’. This means that both teams have the right to use a ’Power Play’ once in every game, in an end where they have last stone advantage.

When a ’Power Play’ is being used, the pre-placed stones will be moved out to one of the sides, and placed as a corner guard and a stone behind it, with the back of the stone against the tee line.

Important rules to remember in Mixed Doubles Curling:

• The first take-out is allowed with the fourth stone played in each end. • Before that, teams are not allowed to hit either their opponents or their own stones out of play. • If an end is blanked (neither team scores), the team that delivered the first stone in that end shall have the decision on placement in the next end. • Teams have 22 minutes of thinking time each • Games are eight ends long, with an extra end played to break ties. www.worldcurling.org World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2018 – MEDIA GUIDE

Playing Positions

There are two positions in Mixed Doubles: • One player plays stones one and five • The other player plays stones two, three and four. • Both players are allowed to switch playing positions in-between ends. • Both players can sweep • Having a player holding the broom at the other end is optional.

A new form of curling with new challenges, possibilities and rules

In June 2015, Mixed Doubles curling was approved by the International Olympic Committee as new medal discipline for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games.

A total of eight countries will compete in the Mixed Doubles curling event at the 2018 Olympics. Korea, as host of the games has a guaranteed spot. The other seven nations will qualify from points gained at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championships in 2016 and 2017.

At the World Curling Federation Congress in Belgrade, Serbia, in September 2015, a new set of rules were voted on and accepted for Mixed Doubles curling.

They are:

1. The pre-placed stone, that used to be placed behind the centre of the button, is now moved to the back of the four-foot circle. It is placed so that the back of the stone is in line with the back of the four-foot circle.

2. The other big change is the possibility to use ’Power Play’. This means that each team, at one time during the game when they have last stone advantage, can chose to have the pre-placed stones moved out to the side.

The stone in the house will be placed so the back of the stone is in line with the tee line and between the eight foot and the 12-foot circle. The guard is placed so the stone in the house is fully buried when viewed from the hack.

The team with last stone advantage will choose if they want to have the ’Power Play’ to the left or the right-hand side of the sheet.

’Power Play’ cannot be used in extra ends.

3. Another new rule, is that the ’’ or player holding the broom, no longer needs to stand behind the hog line at the scoring end. Teams can now choose to have a sweeper instead of a ’Skip’.

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