VERNON, British Columbia, September 27, 2006…The 2008 Ford World Women’s Curling Championship will be held at the Vernon and District MultiPlex, March 22-30, it was announced today by the World Curling Federation (WCF) and the Canadian Curling Association (CCA).
“The World Curling Federation is very pleased to bring the 2008 Ford World Women's Curling Championship to the city of Vernon,” said WCF president Les Harrison. “Curling has a very long tradition in central British Columbia where World Championships have been staged very successfully in the past. We are very confident that the curling fraternity in Vernon will provide a first class international event in a world class facility.”
Vernon has hosted three other national curling events: the 1979 Canadian Senior Women’s Championship, the 1992 Canadian Junior Men’s and Women’s Championships and most recently, the 2004 Canadian Seniors in the 3,000-seat MultiPlex.
This will mark the second world curling championship held in British Columbia in three years. The 2005 Ford World Men’s Curling Championship was staged successfully in Victoria.
“This announcement is the result of a number of years working with the Canadian Curling Association to bring a world curling event to Vernon,” explained Rob Pringle, the Host Committee Chairman. “We are thrilled to have been awarded the Ford World Women's Curling Championship for 2008. We plan to show the world what Vernon has to offer.
“Our city has a strong history of staging and supporting major curling events, having hosted the Canadian Juniors, Canadian Seniors and one of the most successful international cashspiels. Now we are hosting a world event, thanks to the Canadian Curling Association and the World Curling Federation expressing confidence in us. Over the next few months we will be putting our committees together and looking for volunteers to fill various positions within the organization.”
Tickets for the 2008 Ford World Women’s Curling Championship are expected to go on sale in February.
Beginning in 2005, the men’s and women’s world championships were separated once again, as they were through 1988. When the separation of the two championships was announced by the World Curling Federation four years ago, the Canadian Curling Association agreed to alternately stage a men’s and women’s world event in Canada each year.
In addition, both events expanded to 12 competing countries instead of 10 and the Page Playoff System (1 vs 2, winner to final, loser to semi-final; 3 vs 4, winner to semi-final, loser eliminated) was introduced to both events, replacing the WCF’s traditional 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 semi-final pairings to determine the two finalists.
In 2005, the Ford World Men’s Curling Championship was held April 2-10 in Victoria and won by Canada’s Randy Ferbey while the world women’s championship was played March 19-27 in Paisley, Scotland and taken by Sweden’s Anette Norberg.
Last season, the 2006 Ford World Women’s was staged in Grande Prairie, Alberta, attracting 60,791 fans for the nine-day competition in a similarly sized, 3,000-seat venue, the Canada Games Arena. Anette Norberg, fresh from winning an Olympic gold medal, successfully defended her world title, beating Debbie McCormick of the United States in the final. The world men’s championship took place in Lowell, Massachusetts and was won by Scotland’s David Murdoch over Canada’s Jean-Michel Ménard.
The world women’s championship began in 1979 in Perth, Scotland and was contested separately from the men’s championship through 1988. During that time, the women’s event was held twice in Canada, in 1983 in Moose Jaw and 1986 in Kelowna.
In 1989, both championships were combined for the first time in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Canada hosted five Ford World Men’s and Women’s Curling Championships during that time (Brandon, 1995; Hamilton, 1996; Kamloops, 1998; Saint John, 1999 and Winnipeg, 2003).
Canada has won a leading 13 women’s world titles since 1979, the latest by Nova Scotia’s Colleen Jones in 2004 in Gävle, Sweden. Among other world women’s records, Sweden’s Elisabet Gustafson is the only four-time winning skip (1992, 1995, 1998 and 1999) while two-time (1990, 1991) world champion Dordi Nordby of Norway is the all-time leader in appearances (18 in total, 16 as skip) and games-won (111, as skip).
The Ford Motor Company of Canada began its title sponsorship of the world curling championships in 1995.
In addition to the 2008 Ford World Women’s, other sites/dates confirmed so far for the 2008 season include the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, February 16-24 in Regina; World Juniors, March 1-9 in Ostersund, Sweden; Tim Hortons Brier, March 8-16 in Winnipeg and the World Men’s in Grand Forks, North Dakota, April 5-13.
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