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It is my pleasure to welcome you to the E.C.F. website. It is our intention that this site become ever more comprehensive, reflecting the ever wider spectrum of E.C.F. activity.
The last eight years were characterized by an exponential growth of interest in our Olympic sport, with corresponding growth in E.C.F. membership. That our new members were integrated so "seamlessly" into European curling, in full respect of the traditions of our fine sport, is in great measure thanks to our outgoing President, Mr. Malcolm Richardson, and his officers.
Whilst looking forward to welcoming even more members, and to furthering the interests of European curling on the worldwide stage, the E.C.F.'s task for the coming years is to be of ever greater service to its curlers by widening the scope of its activity. We look forward to meeting all the various challenges that await us!
I take this opportunity to wish all our curlers, and their families, all the best... and, of course, obedient stones!
ANDREW FERGUSON-SMITH, M.A. (Oxon.)
President
European Curling Federation
January 3, 2010
The European Junior Curling Challenge 2010 in Prague, Czech Republic is under way from January 3-8! The participants of this challenge are the European junior men’s and junior women’s teams, which have not yet qualified for the World Junior Curling Championships (WJCC). The winner qualifies if the next WJCC is in the European or the Pacific Zone. The runner-up also qualifies if the next WJCC is in the Americas Zone. To view the results please click HERE!
 - Pictures: copyright Bob Cowan
December 12, 2009
Niklas Edin made a triumphant debut at this level when he led his Swedish men’s team to a 6-5 extra-end victory over Switzerland’s Ralph Stöckli in the final of the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships in Aberdeen on Saturday.
Niklas and his team (see top picture) – Sebastian Kraupp, Fredrik Lindberg and Viktor Kjall – blanked the first end before scoring three in the second. The Swiss responded with two points in the third end and Sweden moved into a 4-2 lead with a single in the fifth.
Switzerland levelled the score in the sixth end and did so again in the tenth to tie the game at 5-5 and force the extra end. In that end, Edin made last stone advantage count and finally scored the one he needed for victory with a precision hit and stay around a front guard.
“It feels very good to be going home with the trophy. There was no particular shot that won us the game, it was the whole game,” said Edin after the game. ”We got off to a good start with a three but we had to play a good shot to win.”
“The team played so well.” added Edin “At the beginning of the tournament, we struggled but we played really, really well for the play-offs.”
“We had a really great week,” said Swiss Skip Markus Eggler. “We had six wins in a row, but for sure it’s disappointing when you lose the final game in an extra end. I think they are winners who should be congratulated.”
Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Scotland, France, Germany, Denmark and Italy (as host nation) qualify for the Capital One World Men’s Curling Championship 2010 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy next April.
Men’s B Division
1. Netherlands (see below picture) – GOLD - up to A Division for ECC 2010
2. Russia – SILVER - up to A Division for ECC 2010
3. Hungary - BRONZE
 - Pictures: copyright: Bob Cowan
December 12, 2009
Germany’s Andrea Schöpp won her seventh European Championship title when she beat Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott by 7-5 in Saturday’s final of the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships in Aberdeen.
Switzerland opened the scoring with a single in the opening end, but Germany responded with one in the second. The teams then swapped twos in the third and fourth ends to level the game at 3-3.
Schöpp and her team of Melanie Robillard, Monika Wagner, Corinna Scholz (plus alternate Stella Heiss) - see top picture - had a game-turning steal of two in fifth end, to give them a 5-3 halftime lead.
The Swiss scored singles in both the sixth and seventh ends to bring the scores level again, but after that, it was all one-way traffic in Germany’s favour. Eventually, the Germans left Switzerland with an impossible draw in the tenth to steal one again and claim their crown.
“It’s been a really long time to wait for a title again, we worked hard for this. It went well during the week and now to win, it’s such a great feeling,” said Schöpp following her win.
“We tried to score two but in the end we just messed up with some stones in the middle, we tried to hold the middle open but we pushed one of Germany’s stones and it was really hard for us to eliminate this shot,” said Ott after the game. “We have had an awesome week here. We had to medal for the final qualification for the Olympics, so we can still be proud, but in the first five minutes, it’s a disappointment,” Ott added.
Also on Saturday morning, Latvia’s women’s team, skipped by Iveta Stasa-Sarsune, (see below picture) beat Finland by 6-3 to win the World Challenge series without the need for a third game. They will now make a debut World Championship appearance in Swift Current, Canada in March.
Denmark retained their place in the men’s World Championship line-up by defeating the Netherlands for the second time in their best-of-three World Challenge, winning by 10-5.
Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Scotland, Norway and Latvia qualify for the Ford World Women’s Curling Championship 2010 in Swift Current, Canada next March.
Women’s B Division
1. Latvia – GOLD, qualified for World Women’s Championship 2010, Swift Current, Canada and up to A Division for ECC 2010
2. Netherlands – SILVER - up to A Division for ECC 2010
3. Austria - BRONZE
December 11, 2009
The line-ups for Saturday’s finals at the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships in Aberdeen became clear on Friday evening when Germany’s Andrea Schöpp beat Denmark’s Angelina Jensen by 6-5 in an extra end of the women’s semi-final.
This means that Schöpp, who has won this title five times previously – the first being twenty years ago – now faces defending champion Mirjam Ott from Switzerland, who moved straight to the final after her Page play-off victory against Denmark on Thursday.
The women’s final takes place on Saturday morning, while the men’s final will be staged in the afternoon. And there is every chance that there will be a Swiss double.
Switzerland’s Ralph Stöckli followed up his Thursday evening play-off victory over defending champion David Murdoch of Scotland by beating Norways Thomas Ulsrud by 8-5 in Friday’s semi-final of the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships in Aberdeen. This win books Stöckli place opposite Sweden’s Niklas Edin in Saturday’s final.
The Swiss had to come from behind for this victory, scoring three in the seventh end to level the score at 4-4. In the tenth end, a further three gave them their win.
n the men’s “B” division final, the Netherlands beat Russia by 8-4, and, as well as being promoted to next year’s “A” division, they will now go directly into a best-of-three challenge with seventh-placed Denmark for the final European place in April’s world championship.
Latvia won the women’s “B” division after an extra end, by 7-6 over the Netherlands, to gain promotion, and they will now challenge Finland for this season’s world championship slot.
Event website and live scoring, statistics and results: www.ecc2009.co.uk
December 8, 2009
The ECF Annual General Meeting took place today in Aberdeen, Scotland.
During the meeting, the Turkish Curling Association was unanimously accepted as a new ECF Member Association. Also, following a motion of the Swiss Curling Association, a bronze medal game will be introduced at the European Curling Championships from next season onwards. Furthermore, the members agreed to add a paragraph to the ECF constitution, which allows for the replacement of ECF Executive Board officers in case of their resignation or demission.
The ECF announced as well, that the European Curling Championship C-group competition will in future be played at the same venue as the European Mixed Curling Championships.
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