OUR THANKS TO KEITH AND SUSAN!! August 17, 2010 Keith Wendorf, who has stepped down after 12 years as Director of the W.C.F. Füssen Junior Camp, was given a heartfelt vote of thanks at an unscheduled (at least by him!) ceremony on the final evening of this year's Camp by all its participants - campers, instructors, and staff alike. E.C.F. President Andrew Ferguson-Smith spoke on behalf of the 1.200 curlers who have enjoyed the privilege of attending the Camp under Keith's Directorship, to the benefit of their technique and of their enthusiasm, when he referred to the standards of excellence, recognized throughout the world of curling, that it has attained... thanks in considerable degree to the vision, energy and hard work of Keith and Susan Wendorf.   Dany Jentsch, herself a longstanding and invaluable Camp participant, echoed these sentiments, and presented Keith and Susan with an engraved plaque commemorating their outstanding achievement. Their name will not, however, be dissociated from the Camp: a special Wendorf award will now be presented each year to the camper who has made the greatest contribution, in terms of sportsmanship and camaraderie, to the Camp's success. To replace Keith, we warmly welcome W.C.F. Curling Development Officer Eeva Röthlisberger, a most distinguished name in international curling, and wish her every success in Keith and Sue's footsteps. GÜNTHER HUMMELT July 4, 2010 This Federation deeply regrets to announce the death of Herr Günther Hummelt, ex- and Honorary President of the World Curling Federation. Full tribute HERE He peacefully died on July 3, 2010 after short illness. A church service will be held on July 21, 2010 at Munich, Germany. Further details will be announced shortly. The in memoriam notice of the family please find HERE ECF ANNOUNCES MODIFIED EMCC PLAYING SYSTEM FOR 2010 May 21, 2010 The ECF today announced a modified playing system for the European Mixed Curling Championships (EMCC) 2010 to be held at Greenacres (SCO) at the end of September this year. For the first time ever, there will be no tie-breaker games at an EMCC. WCF ranking procedure will be used to determine rankings.  Teams that are tied on points for play off places will play a Post Round Robin Challenge. The Post Round Robin Challenge will take the form of a Draw shot Challenge, post round robin, in which 4 team members will each play one shot. To view the complete system of play, please click HERE NEW ECF ELIGIBILITY RULE AS OF JUNE 1, 2010 April 27, 2010 Following the decision of the World Curling Federation (WCF) to adopt a new eligibility rule as of June 1, 2010, the European Curling Federation herewith announces that the same rules will at the same time come into force for the European Curling Championships (ECC) and European Mixed Curling Championships (EMCC). The new ECF eligibility rules are: 1.      The athlete is a national of the country they are representing – their residence can be anywhere or 2.      The athlete is a resident of the country they are representing for a period of at least two consecutive years immediately prior to the start of the competition. 3.      If an athlete has represented a country in any ECF/WCF competition, or played in an international qualifier for a WCF competition, that athlete may not represent another country in any ECF competition or WCF international qualifier until they fulfill one of the above criteria AND a period of two consecutive years has elapsed. 4.      Any dispute relating to the determination of the ECF Member Association which an athlete may represent in an ECF competition, shall be resolved by the ECF Executive Board. IMPORTANT NOTE FOR THE SEASON 2010/2011: The new eligibility rule will not be implemented retrospectively. No reference will therefore be made to the representation in previous seasons by any individual participants. DATES OF UPCOMING ECF EVENTS 2010 April 23, 2010 As already announced on April 6, 2010 the European Mixed Curling Championships (EMCC) 2010 as well as the European Curling Championships (C-Group) will take place at Greenacres Ice Rink (Howwood), Scotland. The confirmed dates of this combined event are: September 21-28, 2010 Information on packages will be available by mid May 2010. As indicated earlier, the exact length of each competition as well as the playing format of the ECC C-group can only be confirmed once all entries have been received (Deadline: May 31, 2010). The TENTATIVE schedule for Greenacres is as follows: EMCC 2010 from September 21- approx. September 25, 2010 approximately ECC 2010 C-Group from September 24-27, 2010 approximately Member Nations wishing to enter a team for one or both events can do so online in the “Members Area”. Otherwise, entry forms will be sent out by the ECF Secretariat at the beginning of May. WCF ANNUAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, ITALY - 7 April 2010 The World Curling Federation has elected Kate Caithness from Scotland as president. Caithness, who has been serving as Vice-President since 2006, was elected to the post, gathering more votes than Les Harrison who was seeking re-election, at the annual general meeting of the Federation in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Kate Caithness becomes the first female president of the Olympic winter sport Federation of curling. She has been involved with curling since the early 1980s. From being President of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club Ladies Branch (1997-1998), she moved on to get involved with the European Curling Fedeation and the World Curling Federation. Since 2000 she has been the driving force behind the World Curling Federation’s development of Wheelchair Curling and was instrumental in obtaining the admission of the sport into the Paralympic Winter Games programme in Turin in 2006. Switzerland’s Patrick Hürlimann was appointed Vice-President, taking the role that Caithness has vacated. Canadian, Les Harrison, steps down as president. Executive Board: President: Kate Caithness (Scotland) Vice-President: Patrick Hürlimann (Switzerland) Director of Finance: Andy Anderson (USA) Members at Large: Graham Prouse (Canada) Young C Kim (Korea) Leif Öhman (Sweden) Niels Larsen (Denmark) Among the other decisions made at the annual general meeting held during the Capital One World Men’s Curling Championship WCF Member Associations also voted to: -       Not reduce the game from 10 ends to 8 ends -       Maintain tiebreaker games to determine playoff teams -       Keep extra ends -       Reduce time outs to one 60 second coach interaction with the time clock         running -       Allow electric wheelchairs at WCF wheelchair curling events -       Prohibit communications between the coach bench and anyone who is not         sitting in that designated area. -       Move the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship and World Senior         Curling Championships from April to the month of November, starting from         November 2012 These decisions will be reflected in the new WCF rule book which will be issued on the 1st of June 2010. In other business, Slovenia was accepted as the 46th member association of the World Curling Federation. A presentation of a silver salver was made to former European Curling Federation President Malcolm Richardson - winner of the 2010 Elmer Freytag Award. The next WCF General Assembly will take place on Thursday 9th December 2010 in Champery Switzerland.  ECF FUTURE CHAMPIONSHIPS Aprl 6, 2010 The European Curling Federation (ECF) announced today that the European Mixed Curling Championship 2010 (EMCC) as well as the European Curling Championship (ECC) C-group will take place at Greenacres (Howwood), Scotland. The dates of this combined event will be confirmed very soon. The exact length of the ECC C-group competition as well as its playing format can only be confirmed once all entries have been received. (Deadline: May 31st, 2010) At the same time the European Curling Federation announced that the ECC 2011 will be granted to Russia’s capital Moscow subject to the approval of our TV production team.  Expressions of interest to host future ECF events have been received as follows: EMCC 2011 Copenhagen, DEN ECC    2012 Karlstad, SWE ECC    2013 Zug, SUI WCF Füssen Camp 2008 ADIEU SOLÈNE February 25, 2010 The tragic death, on Saturday 20th. February, of Solène Coulot deprives European curling not only of an accomplished player of today - shortly to have represented France at the WJCC - and a bright hope for tomorrow, not only of one of the most spontaneous and captivating smiles on the ice, but, most of all, of the warmth and friendship of someone who had earned a place in the hearts of so many. We offer our heartfelt condolences to her family and friends, to her team and club, and to French curling in general: she will be much missed by all those of us delighted to have made her acquaintance. Tribute received from Pauline Jeanneret: En 1989, le printemps est arrivé le jour où Solène est née. Les fleurs se sont écloses sous l’éclat de son sourire et de sa joie de vivre. Dès 8 ans, elle fait ses premiers pas sur la glace de Besançon en commençant par le patinage artistique, puis enchaînant avec le patinage synchronisé au sein de l’équipe des Taïgas… Pour finir, c’est le curling qui l’a emmenée en équipe de France et jusqu’à Vancouver l’année passée pour les Championnats du Monde, auxquels elle devait encore participer le mois prochain. Hélas, tous ses beaux projets et sa gaieté habituelle n’auront pas empêché un certain mal de vivre qui l’a conduit à ce geste difficilement compréhensible pour tous ceux qui l’entouraient, sa famille, ses amis, et tous ceux qui ont, un jour, partagé un moment de sa vie. Nous garderons tous à l’esprit sa bonne humeur, sa motivation, ses blagues, son rire et sa joie de vivre. A présent, elle a rejoint le soleil. Espérons seulement que les fleurs renaîtront quand même ce printemps… Pauline Jeanneret, 24.02.10 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES 2010 VANCOUVER Feb. 12-28, 2010 CURLING FANS IN EUROPE can see FREE and LIVE coverage provided by Eurovision from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, including extensive coverage of curling, here: http://www.eurovisionsports.tv/olympics Eurosport’s complete TV coverage schedule for Vancouver 2010 can be seen here: wintersports2010.eurosport-tv.com Who is playing? Please click HERE to see the Vancouver Curling teams! To visit the Curling section of the Vancouver homepage please click HERE! EUROPEAN JUNIOR CURLING CHALLENGE 2010 January 3, 2010 The European Junior Curling Challenge 2010 in Prague, Czech Republic is under way from January 3-8, 2010! 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! LE GRUYERE ECC 2009 - MEN'S FINALS 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 – Sebastian Kraupp, Fredrik Lindberg and Viktor Kjall (see top picture) – 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, 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 LE GRUYERE ECC 2009 WOMEN'S FINALS 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 LE GRUYERE ECC 2009 - SEMI FINALS 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.  Earlier, Switzerland’s Ralph Stöckli followed up his Thursday evening play-off victory over defending champion David Murdoch of Scotland by beating Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud by 8-5 in Friday’s semi-final of the men’s event.  This win books Stöckli a place opposite Sweden’s Niklas Edin in Saturday’s final. In 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 went directly into a best-of-three challenge with seventh-placed Denmark for the final European place in April’s world championship.   However, Denmark won the first of these games by 6-2 on Friday evening. Latvia won the women’s “B” division after an extra end, by 7-6 over the Netherlands to gain promotion, and, in their challenge to Finland for this season’s world championship slot, they won the first game 6-4 on Friday evening. ECF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2009 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. 2010 WORLD CURLING FREYTAG AWARD FOR ECF PAST PRESIDENT MALCOLM RICHARDSON December 7, 2009 Aberdeen, Scotland The World Curling Federation (WCF) has announced that Malcolm Richardson, former President of the European Curling Federation (ECF), will be awarded the 2010 World Curling Freytag Award. The announcement was made during the WCF’s semi-annual General Assembly which took place during the European Championships in Aberdeen, Scotland. Malcolm Richardson, from Scotland, stood down as President of the European Curling Federation in December 2008. “The World Curling Federation wishes to congratulate the 2010 World Curling Freytag Award winner, Malcolm Richardson. Malcolm’s dedication over many years to curling’s administration through the Royal Caledonian Curling Club and as president of the ECF, made him an excellent choice to receive this prestigious award,” said World Curling Federation President Les Harrison. The World Curling Freytag Award honours curlers or individuals who have distinguished themselves and or made an outstanding contribution to the development of curling internationally. “I am utterly overwhelmed” said Malcolm Richardson. “I thought I had come here to meet old curling friends. When I look at the people who have received the World Curling Freytag Award in the past, I am honoured to be counted among them.” The official presentation of the award will take place during the Capital One World Men’s Curling Championship 2010, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, in April. LE GRUYERE ECC 2009 EVENT BLOG November 25, 2009 With the Le Gruyere European Curling Championships only a week or so away, the final preparations are well underway at Curl Aberdeen and the Linx Arena. The Le Gruyere European Curling Championships will host over 50 teams from 30 nations from the 5th -12th December 2009. Bob Cowan has created an “Event Blog” for the Le Gruyere European Curling Championships which will display photos from both the A and B events, along with most of the news from the events. The “Event Blog” can be viewed by clicking here or visiting www.ecc2009blog.blogspot.com/ The blog currently shows the work being carried out at the Linx Arena along with a post about the Local Organising Committee who has been working hard in preparation for the Championships. The official website for the 2009 Le Gruyere European Championship can be found here or by visiting www.ecc2009.co.uk  On this website you can find out all about ticket sales, media information and event draws. LE GRUYERE EUROPEAN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2009 October 25, 2009 Excitement is building towards the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2009 to be held in Aberdeen from Dec 4th-12th!! Many nations will be parading their Olympic teams as preparation for the Olympic Winter Games 2010 in Vancouver, Canada in February. Click HERE to reach the event site where you can find information on the draw, tickets for sale and the teams etc.   SCOTLAND EUROPEAN MIXED CHAMPION 2009 Picture: Czeca Prague, October 2, 2009 After a victory over host nation Czech Republic this morning in the semi-finals, Scotland went on to win the 5th European Mixed Curling Championships 2009 at Prague, Czech Republic beating Denmark, silver medallist at EMCC 2007 at Madrid, Spain. This is the second victory of Scottish skip Tom Brewster with a different team from Aberdeen, host city of the 2009 Le Gruyere European Curling Championships. The bronze medal game was won by the English team, who had won all their games in their section, but who had lost to Denmark in their semi-final. The true spirit of Curling was demonstrated by the 24 participating teams, who enjoyed a wonderful, well organised competition in Prague. ECF ADOPTED NEW PLAYING SYSTEM FOR EUROPEAN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS AS OF 2010 Prague, October 2, 2009 The European Curling Federation today at its Special General Meeting in Prague, Czech Republic, adopted a new playing system for the European Curling Championships. This new playing system will be played for the first time at the Le Gruyere European Curling Championships 2010 at Champery, Switzerland. The basics of the new system are as follows: - Maintain A group - men and women (10 teams each) - 10 teams in the women’s B group - 16 teams in the men’s B group - A+B played together - C group The ranking after the Le Gruyere European Curling Championships 2009 at Aberdeen, Scotland will apply. The C Group will play before the Le Gruyere European Curling Championships 2010! Details of the new playing system can be viewed HERE LE GRUYERE RENEWS PARTNERSHIP WITH WCF FOR THE EUROPEAN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS Famous Swiss cheese brand becomes Title Sponsor of the event Zug, Switzerland, 2 October 2009 The traditional cheese of Switzerland, Le Gruyère AOC Switzerland, a long time supporter of the Olympic Winter Sport of Curling, is to sponsor the European Curling Championships for two years starting with the 2009 event in Aberdeen. The brand will have title rights as follows: Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2009 in Aberdeen, Scotland and the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2010 in Champéry, Switzerland. The entire Eurosport TV inventory will belong to Le Gruyère AOC Switzerland and the advertising opportunities will be optimized, including a new positioning to the under-ice advertising which gives better visibility. Philippe Bardet, Director of Le Gruyère, said: "There is an excellent fit between curling and Le Gruyère AOC Switzerland, which is why we have supported this sport for so many years. With our home base Switzerland, this association gives us a great opportunity to support the event in Europe and emphasise the unique Swiss appeal of the brand. Great Britain is also an important market for us and we will activate our broad range of rights on-site." EMCC 2009 AT PRAGUE UNDERWAY!! September 26, 2009 The fifth edition of the European Mixed Curling Championships, the EMCC 2009 at Prague, Czech Republic, are underway! For results please click HERE   THANK YOU, AINSLIE! September 14, 2009 The Federation is sorry to record the passing of its former Convenor of Competitions, Mr. Ainslie Smith, following a long fight with cancer, engaged with characteristic resolution. Ainslie was indeed a loyal and longstanding friend of European curling.   Not only did he serve with distinction on our own Executive Committee, he was also a Past President of the RCCC.   His predecessor in that position, Malcolm Richardson, has expressed his sincere gratitude for Ainslie’s valued advice and guidance of which he was, on many an occasion during his term of office, the beneficiary. Ainslie also served as RCCC Representative to the W.C.F. and the E.C.F.   Those of us of who, for some time, have been attending the deliberations of those two organizations will recall his much valued contributions, fruit of considerable experience and insight, especially upon the subject of rules. Ainslie’s contribution to European curling was not limited, however, to the forums of its political institutions; his style was very much “hands-on”.   Organizers and players alike are indebted to him, in particular, for countless hours spent on the ice in an umpiring capacity at our championships and other competitions. On a personal level, Ainslie was, in more senses than one, a rotund presence… a description that would, no doubt, elicit his endearing smile.   As Bob Cowan appositely observes, he was “one of the great characters of the sport”.   One could always expect honest opinions from this principled gentleman, habitually expressed directly, if not bluntly, unencumbered by linguistic flourish; one could also expect a mischievous sense of humour!   European curling is the poorer for Ainslie’s loss, as indeed so too are all those of its devotees who were proud to consider him their friend.   The European Curling Federation extends heartfelt condolences to his family. ECF ANNOUNCEMENT August 27, 2009 According to paragraph 15 of the ECF constitution we herewith wish to announce that the ECF Annual General Meeting will take place during the Le Gruyere European Curling Championships 2009 at Aberdeen, Scotland, on December 8, 2009. The Meeting will start at 10:00 a.m. at the Headquarters Hotel "Ardoe House Hotel" (Meeting Room: Elliot)   EMCC 2009 GOES ONLINE! June 6, 2009 The Organising Committee of the 2009 European Mixed Curling Championship at Prague, Czech Republic goes online! All details about the championship including information about packages and hotel booking forms can now be viewed at http://emcc2009.curling.cz/. A field of 24 nations will participate in this 5th edition of the European Mixed Curling Championship! At the same time the European Curling Federation wishes to announce that in Prague an ECF Special General Meeting will be convened on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. to decide on a new ECC playing system, better suited to today’s considerable national participation. The formal calling notice along with the agenda will be distributed by the ECF Secretariat shortly.     EUROPEAN MIXED CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 April 18, 2009 Following discussions in Moncton last week, the E.C.F. is pleased to confirm that the European Mixed Curling Championship 2009 will be celebrated in Prague, CZE from September 26 until October 3, 2009. We would like to thank the Czech Curling Association for its efforts, in a difficult economic climate, to organize this championship in the conditions, and respecting the calendar, to which we are accustomed. We look forward to seeing as many member nations as possible respresented on the ice in this delightful city!   In accordance with the resolution passed at our Annual General Meeting 2008, a Special General Meeting of the E.C.F. will be convened during EMCC 2009, at a date and time soon to be announced, to consider a new ECC playing system, better suited to today’s considerable national participation.   WORKSHOP AND TEST EVENT IN PRAGUE (CZE) FOR CEREBRAL PALSY AND VISUAL IMPAIRED CURLERS April 4, 2009 From May 8-10, 2009 there will be held a workshop/test event in Prague for two new Curling disability categories: cerebral palsy and visual impaired. The aim of this test event is to open new categories for those athletes who do not fit into the wheelchair Curling class. Even if the event is on a national basis “only”, foreign coaches and/or team managers are more than welcome to take part as observers and to discuss with the Czech organizers how disabled Curling can be helped in general. The system of play will be as close to the ordinary curling rules and wheelchair curling rules as possible (eg. no sweeping, etc.). As new disabled sports often have difficulties in getting enough athletes to form a team, there will be playing pairs during this test event. Video records and pictures of this workshop will be presented also in Füssen 1st to 2nd July 2009. Should the event be successful, there might be organised a similar international event next year. For further information please contact the Czech Curling Association. ECF DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT March 28, 2009 Whenever possible, the E.C.F. likes to express its gratitude for the support of the authorities of localities hosting the European Mixed Curling Championship, and for the hard work of its Local Organizing Committees, by supporting the development of curling in the area.   Andrew Ferguson-Smith was very happy recently to be present in Kitzbühel, which organized a memorable EMCC 2008, to present a cheque for €15.000 to Richard Obermoser and Traudi Koudelka (President and Vice-President of the EMCC Kitzbühel 2008 Organizing Committee), to be used for approved curling development projects in the Kitzbühel area. ECC 2009 ABERDEEN TICKET INFO March 16, 2009 The RCCC has asked us to publish the following information: The 2009 European Curling Championships will be held in Aberdeen 5-12 December 2009.  You can now guarantee yourself the same seat for the whole championships with a full event season ticket.Full season tickets include access to all draws, including Round Robin,Tie-breakers, Semi final, Bronze medal and Championship Final.  This is a total of 24 draws covering both the men’s and women’s events. Any tie-breakers will add draws to this number. See all the action with a season ticket for just £99.00 (inclusive of VAT). A child's pass is £57.50 The season ticket passes are transferable should you wish someone to use your seat if you are unable to make a particular draw. However adults will not be permitted to use a child’s seasonticket. If you wish seats beside friends/relatives then please apply as a group using one form for all your tickets. To buy your tickets please click  HERE   to visit the event web-site. HOMECOMING SCOTLAND CURLING CAMP March 15, 2009 The RCCC is hosting a new international junior curling camp based on a similar format to the hugely successful WCF Fuessen Summer Camp! The Homecoming Scotland Curling Camp will take place from Sunday 19th - Saturday 25th July 2009 in Dumfries and is open to junior curlers aged 16 – 21. It will provide on-ice and classroom curling sessions led by experienced international coaches and there will be other activities to celebrate the year of Homecoming Scotland including a mini Highland Games and event ceilidh. This is a really exciting addition to the RCCC calendar and is certain to attract lots of interest and applicants from both Scotland and internationally. Please click  HERE  for more details.  CURLING AT ITS BEST! February 18, 2009     The Curling Champions Tour (CCT) will kick off the upcoming Olympic Curling Season 2009/10 in September. Playing in this unique and attractive series the best European, North American and Asian teams challenge each other at several European tournaments. A number of them will play for Olympic medals in Vancouver as well. When the final accounting is settled in March: Who will be the leader on the “money list“ in both the women’s and the men’s section? The best of the list will determine the „Champion of the Year“!   The CCT is synonymous to the Champions League in other sports. Winning this, means being a real “Champion”.   In the last 10 years the Tour (so far known as World Curling Tour Europe) has established a unique cohesive competition series. Comparable to several World Cups, the PGA- or ATP Tour the top events of European Curling competitions have been brought together. Bringing in the new name, Tour Executive Director Armin Harder is expecting a far better positioning on the international sport calendar and its overall awareness. “Together with our partners, local committees and athletes we provide a premium product of a clean and telegenic Olympic Wintersport with high potential for growth”.   CCT Tournaments are already played in Norway, Sweden, Scotland, CzechRepublic, Russia and Switzerland. The Tour will be continuously expanded. Starting with the upcoming season, CCT in particular wants to host such a tournament in Germany again.   The tournaments will take place in a 2 week rhythm and mostly start on Friday. Playing a so called Triple Knock Out or Group Play Modus each team has to complete a tough program with up to 7 matches, before the Top 8 are qualified for the Play Offs. Semi-finals and finals are going to be covered by TV and IP-TV.   The CCT will still continue its close cooperation with the North American World Curling Tour. Thus participating teams have the opportunity to credit their own ranking with the prize money of both tours. SWISS DEFEAT MIGHTY SWEDEN FOR WOMEN'S EURO CHAMPIONSHIP Picture: by Hakan Sundström December 13, 2008 ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, Sweden - by George Karrys   Switzerland's Mirjam Ott defeated defending Olympic and European champion Anette Norberg of Sweden 5-4 to win women's gold at the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008.   The win was monumental for Ott, the only curler in the world with two Olympic medals -- both silver -- scored in 2002 and 2006.   The win came against her nemesis, Norberg, and her teammates who were looking for their eighth European title to go along with their 2006 Olympic gold and two world championships. The Swedes were playing on home ice in front of partisan crowd at Swedbank Arena in this twon 600 kilometres north of Stockholm.   And the victory was the third over Norberg in as many days for Ott, Carmen Schaefer, Valeria Spaelty and Janine Grenier.   "That's cool," said Ott.   "I'm very happy. This is so cool. Hopefully it is just the beginning."   The Swiss jumped out in front 2-0 and held leads of 3-1 and 4-3 until the eighth end, when Sweden tied the score. A cautious blank end later, Norberg failed to draw behind a guard and Ott made a come-around takeout for the victory.   Ott was the last woman to score European gold for Switzerland, at Copenhagen in 1996. That year she defeated Norberg's predecessor among Swedish curling legends, three-time world champion Elisabet Gustafson.   Earlier Saturday, Scotland's David Murdoch made a stirring comeback to defeat Norway's Thomas Ulsrud for his second straight Le Gruyère European title.   Both the men's and women's finals will broadcast from 22:00 GMT on Eurosport TV, in High-Definition.   In addition, the full selection of 24 "Eurosport Player" online matches from ECC 08 will remain available for archived viewing for one week, ending December 20.   The Eurosport Player is offering special "curling discounts" for selected European countries. Visit the World Curling Federation website (at www.worldcurling.org) and the event website (at www.ecc2008.se) for the list of countries and the special access code.   Scoring summaries can be viewed at www.cuponline.nu   Game feeds and highlight packages are also available for broadcasters from World Curling Television (WCTV). SCOTLAND ROARS BACK TO WIN MEN'S EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Picture: by Hakan Sundström December 13, 2008 ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, Sweden - by George Karrys   Scotland's David Murdoch made a remarkable comeback to repeat as men's gold medallist of the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008.   Murdoch, a full-time, state-funded curling athlete from Lockerbie made a stellar double-takeout to tie the game in the final end, then watched as Ulsrud's last shot in the extra-end slipped two inches too far for a wild 7-6 Scottish victory.   "Dunno if we ever thought we'd be winning that," said the 30-year-old former cattle farmer.   "We always had belief but that was a really hard first five ends. From that point on it was really going to be a grind. We thought 'hang in there, hang in there' and we managed to give them some stingers at the end."   Norway started fast with last rock advantage, taking two points in the first and adding a steal in the second for a 3-0 lead. The Norwegians nursed a 6-4 lead heading into the final end, and seemed pleased with Ulsrud's last draw shot, counting two. After lengthy discussion Murdoch reared back and fired, and just kissed the second Norwegina stone slightly upwards to count a deuce and tie the match.   In the extra-end, the Norwegians ignored the shift in momentum and lead Havard Vad Petterson made two perfect splits, setting up what should have been a routine end. But Ulsrud's first rock picked some depris and spun off line, giving the Scots the chance to force a draw on Ulsrud's last stone.   "I thought the whole team played really well, and it was a great game," said the personable Ulsrud, 37.   "We were all over them from the start. That just goes to prove it, that it's never really over."   Last year in Fuessen, Germany, Ulsrud lost the title match 5-3 to the same Scottish team minus third Ewan Macdonald, who was recovering from knee surgery.   Unlike athletes in other sports, the Scots and Norwegians shared the same dressing room after the match.   "My question for the Scots is how long are they going to keep curling," Ulsrud joked. "We need them to quit. I'm not going to get any closer than that to winning a Europeans without actually winning it, that's for sure."   Scotland, Norway and the other top eight teams in the Euro A-Division qualified for the 2009 Ford World Men's Curling Championships at Moncton, Canada April 4-12. The championship will celebrate 50 years of world men's championship curling dating back to the days of the Scotch Cup, the initial series between Scotland versus Canada founded in 1959.   Murdoch and teammates MacDonald (Aberdeen), Peter Smith (Perth) and Euan Byers (Lockerbie) are carving a remarkable legacy in the sport. Murdoch and Byers have won three gold medals, two silvers and a bronze in three Europeans, and also won the world (in 2006) and world junior crowns. Smith has won 17 medals including seven gold in his career, and MacDonald has won eight international medals, including four gold.   Torger Nergard and the youthful front-end of Christoffer Svae and Vad Petersson make up Ulsrud's Norwegian team.   The women's final features Switzerland's Mirjam Ott against Sweden's much-decorated Anette Norberg, the 2006 Olympic champion. Both men's and women's finals will broadcast from 22:00 GMT on High-Definition Eurosport TV.   The Eurosport Player is offering special "curling discounts" for selected European countries. Visit the World Curling Federation website (at www.worldcurling.org) and the event website (at www.ecc2008.se) for the list of countries and the special access code.   In addition, the full selection of 24 Eurosport Player curling games from ECC 08 will remain available for archived viewing for one week following the event, ending December 20.   Live scoring can be viewed at www.cuponline.nu   Game feeds and highlight packages are also available for broadcasters from World Curling Television (WCTV). Pictures: by Hakan Sundström FIRST MEDALS AWARDED AT ECC 2008 December 12, 2008 ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, SWEDE   Today, after the final games in the B-group the first medals and trophies were awarded at European Curling Championships 2008 at Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The Finnish men beat Italy in their final with 9-2 and the Norwegian women beat Finland in the final by 9-3. All four teams (Men: FIN and ITA, Women: NOR and FIN) will move up to the A-group for next year’s ECC 2009 at Aberdeen, Scotland. Both gold medallists will now have a chance to still qualify for their respective World Curling Championships 2009 by winning the best-of-three world challenge games that will still start today. In that world challenge the Finnish Men will meet the Swedish Men, whereas the Norwegian women will have to face the English women. SWEDEN MAKES OLYMPIAN COMEBACK TO DEFEAT DENMARK IN EURO SEMI December 12, 2008 ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, Sweden - by George Karrys   The defending Olympic and European champion, Anette Norberg of Sweden, made a brilliant come-around takeout to score four points and defeat Denmark 8-7 in the semifinal of the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008.   The shot, made before a vocal crowd of home supporters, occurred in the ninth end with Denmark's Angelina Jensen holding a 6-4 lead. It followed a great hit and roll by Danish fourth-thrower Madeleine Dupont. Facing four Swedish counters, Dupont made her shot and Norberg initially indicated she would then draw for only two points to tie the game.   But the decision was made to go for the four, and the team leapt into the air as the shot was made and the crowd roared.   "This is incredible," said Swedish third Eva Lund.   "If you don't compare the competitions, because the Olympics are something very different, I would say this is one of the greatest moments of my life."   "Anette was really struggling in the beginning," explained Lund, who has also won seven previous European titles and three world championships with Norberg.   "But we gathered together and said we are here for her. We're not afraid to lose or to look bad here, we just wanted to support her."   The writing was on the wall for Denmark, which outplayed Sweden in the early going and held a 5-3 lead after six ends. But Sweden turned on the heat and Dupont was forced to draw against two stones buried in the four-foot rings on her last shot of the eighth end. Sweden continued piling on the pressure early in that fateful ninth.   "We said let's go for it," said Lund. "It was time to take the game to them and put them under pressure."   The previous time Jensen met Norberg in a major competition was the 2007 Worlds in Aomori, Japan. Denmark won that game 9-8, in an unusual season which saw the Swedes finish out of the playoffs and Denmark score the silver medal.   With a final record of 7-4 Jensen and her teammates earned the Bronze medal.   Norberg will have to play each end like the end of the semifinal in Saturday's championship game against Switzerland's Mirjam Ott. Despite having lost to Norberg up to 10 times in the past five years -- including in the 2006 Olympic gold medal game -- Ott has defeated Norberg twice in the past three days and seems to be no longer intimidated by one of the strongest women's teams in curling history.   The match takes place at 14:00 GMT on SVT 24 Sweden and online at the Eurosport Player.   Preceding the women's final is the men's championship final between Norway's Thomas Ulsrud and Scotland's David Murdoch. The repeat of last year's Euro final in Fuessen, Germany gets underway at 10:00 GMT on SVT 24 and the Eurosport Player.   Both finals will be broadcast from 22:00 GMT on High-Definition Eurosport TV.   The Eurosport Player is offering special "curling discounts" for selected European countries. Visit the World Curling Federation website (at www.worldcurling.org) and the event website (at www.ecc2008.se) for the list of countries and the special access code.   In addition, the full selection of 24 Eurosport Player curling games from ECC 08 will remain available for archived viewing for one week following the event, ending December 20.   Live scoring can be viewed at www.cuponline.nu   Game feeds and highlight packages are also available for broadcasters from World Curling Television (WCTV). SCOTLAND THUMPS GERMANY IN SEMIFINAL OF MEN'S EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS December 12, 2008 ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, Sweden - by George Karrys   Scotland's David Murdoch, the defending men's champion, scored five unanswered points to defeat Germany's Andy Kapp 7-2 at Swedbank Arena and qualify for Saturday's final of the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008.   Murdoch scored two points in the second end and after Kapp replied with a tying deuce in the fifth, the rampage began. The Scots grabbed three in the sixth, then stole the seventh and eighth whereupon Germany conceded.   Murdoch will battle Norway's Thomas Ulsrud on Saturday in a rematch of the 2007 final, which saw Scotland win 5-3. That year the Scots also climbed into the championship through the semifinals, beating Denmark, while Ulsrud awaited his opponent.   "I'm looking forward to it," Murdoch said of Saturday's rematch.   "I'm delighted to be back here again. We're doing it the way we like, with lots of confidence.   "We keep applying pressure every end and it's up to the other guy not to crack."   Germany's Kapp finishes with the Bronze medal, his third trip to the ECC podium in nine attempts, after winning gold in 1992 and 1997.   Switzerland's Mirjam Ott is in the women's final, and awaits the winner of the women's Friday night semifinal between Sweden's much-decorated Anette Norberg and Denmark's Angelina Jensen.   The match takes place at 18:00 GMT on SVT 24 Sweden, High-Definition Eurosport TV and also online at the Eurosport Player.   Saturday's Championship finals take place at 11:00 (men) and 15:00 (women) on SVT 24 and the Eurosport Player, with both finals broadcast from 22:00 GMT on High-Definition Eurosport TV.   The Eurosport Player is offering special "curling discounts" for selected European countries. Visit the World Curling Federation website (at www.worldcurling.org) and the event website (at www.ecc2008.se) for the list of countries and the special access code.   In addition, the full selection of 24 Eurosport Player curling games from ECC 08 will remain available for archived viewing for one week following the event, ending December 20.   Live scoring can be viewed at www.cuponline.nu   Game feeds and highlight packages are also available for broadcasters from World Curling Television (WCTV). NORWAY MEN, SWISS WOMEN INTO EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS FINAL. SCOTLAND MEN, DANISH WOMEN INTO SEMIFINALS December 11, 2008 ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, Sweden - by George Karrys   Norway's Thomas Ulsrud and Switzerland's Mirjam Ott have both qualified for their respective finals at the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008 at Swedbank Arena.   In the first playoff round Thursday night, Ulsrud made a late charge to subdue Germany's Andy Kapp 9-7 and Ott defeated Sweden's hometown heroine Anette Norberg by an 8-4 count.   It was the second time in as many days in which Ott defeated the Swedes, reversing nearly five years of losses ranging from Tour events to the 2006 Olympic final.   Ulsrud, who finished runner-up at last year's Euros in Fuessen, Germany, will make his second straight appearance in the European final.   "Our goal was to win gold, after silver last year," said Ulsrud. "But that's one thing to say it and another thing to do it.   "They (Germany) were all over us the first half of the game. And as Chris (second Christoffer Svae) said, 'just ride it out' and we did. We started getting some breaks and things turned for us in the second half."   Meanwhile, in the three-versus-four playoff games to decide the semifinalists, Scotland's men battled Switzerland and Denmark's women took on Germany.   Denmark's Angelina Jensen hung on to defeat German veteran Andrea Schoepp 8-7 in an extra-end and will advance to Friday's semifinal against Norberg, at 18:00 GMT on SVT 24 Sweden, Eurosport TV in High-Definition and also online at the Eurosport Player. Schoepp finishes in fourth place.   Scotland's David Murdoch, the defending men's champion, was up 4-1 when he stole two in the seventh end against Switzerland's Stefan Karnusian, who conceded the match after taking a single point in the eighth for a 6-3 score. The Swiss also finished in fourth place.   Murdoch has now won six games in a row, and was delighted with what he called his team's first complete game.   "That's the performance we've been looking for," said Murdoch.   "It's very similar to last year when we started rolling and won six or seven in a row.   "I'm sure Germany isn't looking forward to playing us, they're not going to be happy about it."   The Scots move into Friday's semifinal against Kapp at 13:00 GMT on SVT 24 Sweden and online via the Eurosport Player, with the winner advancing to Saturday's Championship final against Norway. The loser is awarded the Bronze medal.   The Eurosport Player is offering special "curling discounts" for selected European countries. Visit the World Curling Federation website (at www.worldcurling.org) and the event website (at www.ecc2008.se) for the list of countries and the special access code.   In addition, the full selection of 24 Eurosport Player curling games from ECC 08 will remain available for archived viewing for one week following the event, ending December 20.   Live scoring can be viewed at www.cuponline.nu   Game feeds and highlight packages are also available for broadcasters from World Curling Television (WCTV). ENGLAND DEFEATS NETHERLANDS, FACES CHALLENGE FOR WORLD BERTH December 11, 2008 ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, Sweden - by George Karrys   England's Kirsty Balfour, a radiographer from Newcastle, overcame Shari Leibbrandt-Demmon of the Netherlands to finish eighth at the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008 and will face a challenge series for the last European berth in the 2009 Worlds.   Balfour played an aggressive 10th end with the last stone of third Caroline Reed, and was rewarded when Leibbrandt-Demmon missed her final shot to hand England the 7-6 victory.   The English will stay in the A-Division of next year's Europeans in Aberdeen, Scotland while the Dutch drop to next year's B-Division, alongside 10th-place finishers Czech Republic.   "It's a great day for English curling," said Balfour, 31.   "Our first goal was to stay in the A, and now we have a chance to play for the Worlds.   "I'm so, so happy. It's brilliant."   Balfour also has a chance at the final berth into the 2009 World Women's Curling Championship in Gangneung, Korea next March. She meets the winner of the B-Division playoffs -- one of either Norway, Finland, Hungary or Poland -- in a best -of-three challenge series to decide the final European berth.   If the English advance from the challenge, it will mark only their third appearance at the women's worlds, the others coming in 1979 and 1993.   Both Euro A-Division men's and women's playoff games take place at 19:00 GMT on Thursday night. The women's Switzerland/Sweden match will broadcast on SVT Sweden while the men's playoff between Germany's Andy Kapp and Norway's Thomas Ulsrud will be webstreamed live on the Eurosport Player.   The Eurosport Player web TV portal is offering special "curling discounts" for selected European countries. Visit the World Curling Federation website (at www.worldcurling.org) and the event website (at www.ecc2008.se) for the list of countries and the special access code.   Live scoring can be viewed at www.cuponline.nu   Game feeds and highlight packages are also available for broadcasters from World Curling Television (WCTV). WOMEN'S PLAYOFFS SEE SUI, SWE, DEN AND GER FOR EUROPEAN TITLE December 11, 2008 ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, Sweden - by George Karrys   Switzerland will meet Sweden and Denmark will battle Germany in the first round of women's playoffs at the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008.   All four won their games Thursday morning to complete the round-robin portion of the championships, which will send the top seven teams to the 2009 World Women's Curling Championships in Gangneung, Korea next March. An eighth team will be decided following a challenge series from the Euro B-Division winner.   Italy's Diana Gaspari could have qualified for a tiebreaker by winning her last game, but the formidable defending champions from Sweden, skipped by Anette Norberg, defeated her 9-2. Switzerland's Mirjam Ott beat the Netherlands 8-3 to finish 7-2 along with Sweden, with the Swiss securing first place.   Scotland's Kelly Wood won her last match 9-4 over England, but it wasn't enough to change the playoff picture. Both Italy and Scotland finished at 5-4.   The key games were victories by Denmark's Angelina Jensen, who narrowly defeated the Czech Republic 5-4, and Germany's Andrea Schoepp, who slipped past Russia 6-4. The wins gave those squads the last two playoff berths without any tiebreaker scenarios.   Russia, skipped by 2006 European champion Liudmila Privivkova finished at 4-5.   There is one tiebreaker scheduled for 14:00 GMT as Shari Leibbrandt-Demmon of the Netherlands meets England's Kirsty Balfour to decide eighth and ninth place. The winner stays in the A-Division at next year's Europeans in Aberdeen, Scotland while the loser faces a best-of-three challenge series against the B-Division champions for the final berth in the 2009 Worlds.   The Czech Republic, skipped by Katerina Urbanova finished at 1-8 and are relegated to next year's B-Division.   Both men's and women's playoff games take place at 19:00 GMT on Thursday night. The women's Switzerland/Sweden match will broadcast on SVT Sweden while the men's playoff between Germany's Andy Kapp and Norway's Thomas Ulsrud will be webstreamed live on the Eurosport Player.   The Eurosport Player web TV portal is offering special "curling discounts" for selected European countries. Visit the World Curling Federation website (at www.worldcurling.org) and the event website (at www.ecc2008.se) for the list of countries and the special access code.   Live scoring can be viewed at www.cuponline.nu   Game feeds and highlight packages are also available for broadcasters from World Curling Television (WCTV). ECF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2008 ÖVIK, SWEDEN December 9, 2008 Örnsköldsvik, Sweden     Today the European Curling Federation held its Annual General Meeting at the Swedbank Arena in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.   The main issue for discussion was the implementation of a new playing system for the European Curling Championships (ECC) as of 2010 onwards. The Executive Board recommended that the ECC in future be played in three groups, i.e. A-group, B-group and prequalification round in order to make the competition on one side more manageable for Host Committees but also affordable in time and cost to member associations, players and the ECF. A final decision was postponed until the Semi-Annual General Meeting of the ECF in 2009 due to member associations wishing to discuss that issue on a national basis first.   President Malcolm Richardson retired after 8 years of dedicated service to the European Curling Federation. The outgoing President got standing ovations for his immense contribution and support to European Curling.   Subsequently, the member association elected the following new Executive Board:   President: Andrew Ferguson-Smith (AND) Vice-President: Olli Rissanen (FIN) Rep. Northern Europe: Per Näsman (SWE) Rep. Central Europe: Urs Müller (SUI) Rep. Eastern Europe: Pawel Kubik (POL) Member at Large: Jeanette Johnston (SCO) Member at Large: Konstantin Zadvornov (RUS) Member at Large: Karel Kubeska (CZE) Secretary General: Saskia Krügl (AUT) Photo by Hakan Sundström ITALIAN WOMEN STUN SCOTLAND; CZECH, SWEDISH MEN BACK IN THE HUNT AT EURO CURLING 08 December 9, 2008 ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, Sweden - by George Karrys   Italy's women overcame deficits of 6-2 and 7-5 to shock powerful Scotland at the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008.   Diana Gaspari, the surprise 2006 Euro silver-medallist, dropped another stunner on observers at Swedbank Arena by taking four points in the final end for a wild 9-7 win over Scotland's Kelly Wood, the 2007 Euro runner-up.   Gaspari opened with a 2-0 lead which was quickly erased in the second end of play, and despite a three-ender in the sixth to close the gap to a single point the Italians trailed all the way up to the fateful 10th frame.   The youthful Italians leapt into the air in victory.   ""It was incredible," said Gaspari, a 24 year-old student who has been curling for half her life.   "After the fifth end we thought we would just play a few ends more and that's it. Then we scored three and we thought, maybe we're back in the game.   "We had a lot of energy and we really fought at the end."   Italy, Switzerland and and Germany are all tied in second place at 4-2 behind Sweden (5-1). Gaspari has already beaten Switzerland's Mirjam Ott and Germany's Andrea Schoepp.   Gaspari's 2006 silver was scored in Basel, Switzerland and came with a different player on the team. New third Giorgia Apollonio, 20, is competing in only her second season at third position. Apollonio threw second stones in 2006.   "Because we are a new team our goal is just to qualify for Korea (Worlds)," said Gaspari.   "But now we have four wins, so anything is possible -- again."   Sweden's front-running Anette Norberg dropped her first game, a 13-4 thumping to Germany. Denmark's Angelina Jensen climbed to 3-3, tied with Scotland and Russia, with a 7-3 win over the Netherlands. Switzerland dispatched Russia 9-4 and England defeated the Czech Republic 8-3 in a battle of last year's B-Division qualifiers.   In men's play, the Czech Republic won their third in a row after an 0-4 start to climb back into Worlds qualifying contention. The 8-7 extra-end win over Switzerland puts them at 3-4, tied with Denmark (7-4 losers to Scotland), France (who fell 5-4 to Germany) and Sweden, who defeated Spain 8-1, for fourth place.   Switzerland's Stefan Karnusian is in third place at 4-3, with defending champion David Murdoch of Scotland at 5-2. Germany's Andy Kapp and Norway's Thomas Ulsrud, who crushed Ireland 9-4, are tied for first with 6-1 records.   Curling fans can see game coverage on Eurosport (in High-Definition) and also online, with special "curling discounts" for the Eurosport Player web TV portal listed at the World Curling Federation website (at www.worldcurling.org) and the event website (at www.ecc2008.se).   Live scoring can be viewed at www.cuponline.nu   Game feeds and highlight packages are also available from World Curling Television (WCTV). FRANCE DEFEATS SWISS FOR THREE-WAY TIE AT EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS - SWEDEN WINS AGAIN TO LEAD WOMEN 4-0 December 8, 2008 ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, Sweden - by George Karrys   France's Thomas Dufour knocked Switzerland from the unbeaten ranks to force a three-way tie in men's play at the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008.   Dufour, a ski instructor who hails from Chamonix, gave a curling lesson to Stefan Karnusian of St. Moritz, beating him 10-7 on the strength of four multiple ends. The French took two and stole one to finish the match, which the Swiss conceded in the 10th end.   The team has come a long way in the past two years. Lengthy training sessions in Canada have led to strong finishes at the past two World men's championships, and Dufour now has raised his own expectations.   Previously, the goal was to finish in the top seven and qualify for the Worlds. But now...   "We are still on track for our main goal," said Dufour. "For the semifinals, that's what we want.   "We know we have improved our game but it is always hard, we need time to adjust when we start a competition."   Dufour raised his win/loss record to 3-2, tied with Scotland.   "For the first few games I struggled," Dufour added. "The guys were playing really well but I was not there. Now I have played a good game. And when the guys play like this... there are lots of chances for us."   The Swiss, Germany and Norway all sit in first place at 4-1.Germany's Andy Kapp thumped Spain's Antonio de Mollinedo 11-4 and Norway's Thomas Ulsrud, the 2007 Euro silver medallist, defeated Ulrik Schmidt of Denmark 9-4.   Scotland's defending Euro champion and world runner-up, David Murdoch, passed Sweden's Mathias Mabergs 8-4 while the Czech Republic's Jiri Snitil won his first, 6-3 over Ireland.   On the women's side, Scotland's Kelly Wood lost her second game in a row, this time 7-4 to Switzerland's Mirjam Ott. It was a must-win for the Swiss, who had a 1-2 record heading into the match.   In other matches, Sweden's Anette Norberg beat the Czech Republic 6-3 to lead the standings at 4-0. Germany, who were 6-3 winners over the Netherlands, are at 3-1 and no less than seven teams are all tied with 2-2 records.   Curling fans can see game coverage on Eurosport (in High-Definition) and also online, with special "curling discounts" for the Eurosport Player web TV portal listed at the World Curling Federation website (at www.worldcurling.org) and the event website (at www.ecc2008.se).   Live scoring can be viewed at www.cuponline.nu   Game feeds and highlight packages are also available from World Curling Television (WCTV). SWEDEN'S ANETTE NORBERG MAKES WILD COMEBACK AT EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS December 7, 2008 ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, Sweden - by George Karrys     Sweden's curling heroines defeated Scotland 9-8 in a nailbiter to move to 3-0 at the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008.   Anette Norberg, the defending Olympic champion, three-time world champion and unprecedented seven-time Euro champion beat Kelly Wood in a rematch of last year's Euro final held in Fuessen, Germany.   It was the first challenging game for Norberg, who thumped the Netherlands 12-2 on Saturday night. And the Swedes overcame a shocking Scottish four-ender in the eighth end to score four unanswered points of their own, including two steals.   Wood's first loss drops her squad to 2-1, tied with Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.   The Germans, skipped by veteran Andrea Schoepp were stunned 8-3 by England's Kristy Balfour, whose modest goal at the championship is to finish no lower than seventh, thus avoiding a return to next year's Euro B-Division.   "My coach told me before the game this is like a football match, England versus Germany," said a delighted Balfour, who climbed to 1-2.   "I'm not a footy fan myself, but he's a massive fan. And this was a massive result for us."   Italy's Diana Gaspari also pulled an upset, defeating Switerland's Mirjam Ott (1-2) by a 7-4 count.   Denmark won their first match 8-1 over Russia to put both squads at 1-2. The Czech Republic is winless at 0-3.   In men's action, Switzerland's Stefan Karnusian moved to 3-0 with an 8-3 win over Germany (2-1) following his 10-5 victory over Ireland. The Irish (1-2) then lost 7-4 to Spain's Antonio de Mollinedo (1-2) while Scotland's David Murdoch, the defending European champion, picked up two wins, a 13-1 demolition of Spain and a 9-0 drubbing over the struggling Czech Republic (0-3).   Norway's Thomas Ulsrud recovered from a wild 12-8 loss to Germany to post a 10-3 victory over France (1-2) to sit at 2-1. Denmark is the fourth team with a 2-1 record, following a win over the Czechs and a loss to Sweden, who are now at 1-2.   Action continues with a Sunday night men's draw available for viewing at the Eurosport Player, at player.eurosport.com, followed by four full draws of curling on Monday, from 08:00 to 23:00 local time.   Curling fans can see all these draws with special discounted Eurosport Player subscription codes listed at the World Curling Federation website (at www.worldcurling.org) and the event website (at www.ecc2008.se).   Live scoring can be viewed at www.cuponline.nu   Game feeds and highlight packages are also available from World Curling Television (WCTV), which will produce Monday night's SWE-CZE men's game for High-Definition broadcast on Eurosport.   OLYMPIC DREAMS AS EURO CURLING SHOOTOUT BEGINS December 6, 2008 ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, Sweden - by George Karrys     The Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008 have roared to life with opening day action involving 51 teams from 29 European countries.   Hosted in this "hockey town" 600 kilometres north of Stockholm, two venues are being used to handle the crush of over 350 athletes and coaches, including the spectacular two-year-old Swedbank Arena.   In first draw men's action, the pressure of this final qualification season before the 2010 Olympic Winter Games is obvious.   In one match, Switzerland's Stefan Karnusian - a veteran squad with little experience in the Swiss national uniform - outslugged host Sweden's Mathias Mabergs 8-4, breaking open a tight game with a count of four in the ninth end.   Both teams are surprise entrants in the competition, after earning qualifying victories in their home countries.   One sheet over, Denmark showed off a radically different lineup from the one which won the Bronze medal at last year's Euros in Fuessen, Germany.   Former coach Ulrik Schmidt, who skipped Denmark at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, is back on the ice at skip position, replacing Johnny Frederiksen. Frederiksen now plays third, with former third Lars Vilandt dropping all the way to lead position, with Bo Jensen remaining at second.   The Danes had an easy time with Spain's Antonio de Mollinedo, beating him 13-1 in seven ends. The Spaniards are a new qualifier for the Euro A division, which will determine the top seven countries for April's 2009 Ford World men's Championship in Moncton, Canada.   The Danish men sit in 11th place in the Olympic qualification race, and need to perform in Örnsköldsvik to give them a shot at the Olympic berths.   "We had a meeting and I said if we want to go to the Olympics, we have to play more," said Schmidt, who is an average of 13 years older than his teammates.   "I told them we had to do more. Three of them wanted to, the fourth did not. And now I am back in business."   The lure of Olympic gold burns brightly throughout the curling world. With the 2010 Vancouver Games taking place in Canada, curling's strongest nation, the athletes are desperate to take part in what might be the sport's shining moment.   The Swiss are just one country spending funds dolled out by their domestic Olympic Committee.   "We took the teams to three events, and we had two training days per week plus weekends," said Swiss national coach Heinz Schmidt, who oversees Karnusian and the women's team, skipped by two-time Olympic silver medallist Mirjam Ott.   "Basically they are practicing every day, ever since they qualified in late October."   In other men's matches, defending European champion David Murdoch of Scotland - who leads a team of full-time, fully-funded curling athletes - lost 6-3 in an extra-end to Germany's Andy Kapp. The Germans scored three points over the final three ends, including two steals, to grab the victory.   Norway's Thomas Ulsrud, the 2007 European silver medallist, crushed Jiri Snitil of the Czech Republic by a 9-1 count, while Ireland's Peter J. D. Wilson edged Thomas Dufour of France 6-5 in an extra-end.   In opening women's action, Sweden's superstars led by skip Anette Norberg steamrolled Denmark's Angelina Jensen 8-2. The Danes won world silver in 2007, but Norberg has dominated women's curling throughout the decade, capturing three world championships and the Olympic gold medal at Turin 2006.   Norberg is also trying to win her seventh Le Gruyère European Curling Championship in a row, dating back to 2001, for a possible eight titles overall.   Scotland's Kelly Wood, who lost the 2007 Euro final to Norberg, thumped the Czech Republic's Katerina Urbanova 10-3 while German veteran Andrea Schoepp ground out a tight 7-6 win over Switzerland's Ott.   In a battle of surprise 2006 Euro finalists, Russia's Liudmila Privivkova repeated her win over Italy's Diana Gaspari, this time by an 8-7 count.   In a battle of A division rookies, Shari Leibbrandt-Demmon edged England's Kirsty Balfour by the same 8-7 scoreline.   The top seven women's teams will qualify their countries for the 2009 World Women's Championship in Gangneung, Korea in March.   Action continues with two more Saturday matches, one broadcast in High-Definition on Eurosport and two others webstreamed at the Eurosport Player, available at player.eurosport.com   A total of 10 matches will be televised, including the championship finals on December 13, with a total of 24 matches webstreamed on the Eurosport Player.   Curling fans can receive special discounted Eurosport Player subscription codes listed at the World Curling Federation website (at www.worldcurling.org) and the event website (at www.ecc2008.se).   Live scoring can be viewed at www.cuponline.nu   Game feeds and highlight packages are also available from World Curling Television (WCTV).   Meanwhile, 30 teams representing countries such as Latvia, Wales, Poland, Russia, Finland, Hungary, Greece and Croatia - among others - began play in the Euro B division.   The top two men's and women's teams will qualify for the A division at next year's Europeans in Aberdeen, Scotland. In addition, the top finishers will play a best-of-three challenge series against the eighth-place A division teams for the right to compete at the 2009 world championships.   UNPRECEDENTED LIVE COVERAGE OF EUROPEAN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS - 25% DISCOUNT FOR EUROPEAN CURLING FANS December 3, 2008 ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, SWEDEN, by George Karrys     As a long standing partner of curling, Eurosport is proud to provide fans with unprecedented coverage of the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008.   The event, contested December 6-13 from the Swedbank Arena, marks the beginning of the "last chance" for European curlers to qualify their countries for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.   Eurosport will combine live on-air and online broadcast efforts, delivering 10 matches in High-Definition television and another 24 games via Eurosport's new web TV service.   Eurosport Player, located at: player.eurosport.com, allows live and simultaneous access to Eurosport, Eurosport 2 and Eurosport News, plus over 6,000 hours of live sporting events each year. The Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008 will be available via computer in full screen format.   In addition, European curling fans are invited to view the competition for a discounted rate of 25 per cent off regular subscription prices. This special offer, courtesy of the World Curling Federation (WCF) and Eurosport, is available until December 31 for monthly subscriptions and April 30, 2009 for annual subscriptions.   Each country of residence has it's own promotion code. Viewers can see the promo codes on the WCF website and at their national curling federation's website.   The list of available promotional codes is as follows. Note the 2008 code is for the monthly discount; the 2009 code is for the annual discount.     United Kingdom: curling2008_uk curling2009_uk   Germany: curling2008_de curling2009_de   Switzerland: curling2008_ch curling2009_ch   Denmark: curling2008_dk curling2009_dk   Spain: curling2008_es curling2009_es   France: curling2008_fr curling2009_fr   Sweden: curling2008_se curling2009_se   Netherlands: curling2008_nl curling2009_nl   Czech Republic: curling2008_cz curling2009_cz   Poland: curling2008_pl curling2009_pl   EUROPEAN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS OFFER LAST CHANCE FOR WORLD/OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION December 3, 2008 ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, SWEDEN, by George Karrys     Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008 mark the beginning of the "last chance" for European curlers to qualify for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.   And for the first time, a record number of games are available on Eurosport in High-Definition broadcast quality and also online - at a discount - through Eurosport Player, the all-sport channel's web TV service.   51 teams from 29 countries - 29 men's squads and 22 women's teams - will compete in two divisions, A and B, at the Swedbank Arena from December 6-13.   In addition to gold, silver and bronze-medal honours, the A division rewards the top eight men's and women's finishers with a berth in the World Curling Championships in March and April 2009. The B division awards the top men's and women's team the chance to challenge the eighth-place A finishers for the final world berth, plus a berth in the A pool of the 2009 championship in Aberdeen, Scotland.   Points awarded at the Worlds qualify their nations for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The upcoming Worlds - the women's in Gangneung, Korea and the men's in Moncton, Canada - will mark the conclusion of a three-year qualifying race to determine the final 10 men's and women's nations at Vancouver.   "The Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008 are a key stepping stone towards Olympic qualification," said Les Harrison, World Curling Federation (WCF) President.   "Our best wishes and thanks go to the European Curling Federation and the Örnsköldsvik host committee for all their hard work."   Last year in Fuessen, Germany, Scotland's David Murdoch and Sweden's Anette Norberg both added to previous Le Gruyère European Championship titles. Murdoch defeated Norway's Thomas Ulsrud in the men's final and Norberg upended Scotland's Kelly Wood to take the women's crown.   All four teams will return to defend their podium finishes in Örnsköldsvik, as will Denmark's Johnny Frederiksen, who won bronze last year but now has former coach Ulrik Schmidt at skip position, and Swiss women's powerhouse Mirjam Ott, who finished fourth in 2007.   Other A division women's teams are Denmark, skipped by 2006 world silver medallist Angelina Jensen; Germany's much-decorated veteran Andrea Schoepp; the surprise Euro 2006 gold and silver medallists, Liudmila Privivkova of Russia and Italy's Diana Gaspari; England's Kristi Balfour; Katerina Urbanova of the Czech Republic and Shari Leibbrandt-Demmon of the Netherlands.   Also challenging Scotland on the men's side will be Germany's Andy Kapp; France's Thomas Dufour; Ireland's John Kenny; Stefan Karnusian of Switzerland; Henrik Edlund of host Sweden; Jiri Snitil of the Czech Republic and newcomers Spain, skipped by Antonio de Mollinedo.   In partnership with the pan-European multilingual sports TV channel Eurosport and Curlingkanalen.se, the World Curling Federation will provide curling fans with a record number of hours of coverage, beginning on December 6 and ending with the men's and women's championship finals on December 13.   10 matches will be televised in High-Definition, and live webstreamed game coverage of 24 total matches, including the men's and women's A division semifinals and finals, will be available on the new Eurosport Player for a discounted price via access code.   Eurosport Player can be found at: player.eurosport.com and the access code for each country can be found in a separate news release, and also on the WCF website at: www.worldcurling.org   The World Curling Federation will also provide daily coverage updates from Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008 to working sport media in text, still image and video-highlight formats.   In addition to video highlight footage, World Curling Television (WCTV) can provide the live game coverage feed to interested broadcasters. See contact information for Joanna Kelly.   For more information including team lineups, please visit the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008 website at: www.ecc2008.se   For live scoring of the event (available in Swedish) please visit: www.cuponline.nu   To view draw-by-draw reports, photos and other curling information, please visit the World Curling Federation website at: www.worldcurling.org   MAGICAL KITZBÜHEL 2008 Foto: Bob Cowan, Editor The Scottish Curler September 28, 2008   The 4th European Mixed Curling Championship   Kitzbühel, nestling in the Austrian Tyrol beneath the awe inspiring Hahnenkamm peak was the venue for this now well established Championship Event.   Twenty three eager and raring to go European teams displayed their skills on the faultlessly prepared ice. Every attention to detail for the comfort of all being the chief concern of Richard Obermoser and the Host Committee, who certainly lived up to their slogan “United in the Spirit of Curling”.   The excellent standard and attention to detail was reflected in the high quality of this event, matched by the friendly, helpful assistance of all concerned.   As in all events of this ability, some teams displayed brilliance others wished for what might have been, but all games were watchable and in most cases unpredictable until the final end.   The social side of thing was not forgotten. The players enjoyed a Pasta Party staged by the indomitable Franco Zumofen in which the delights of Cortina were highlighted and to commiserate the losers a series of Happy Losers Parties was welcomed by those teams with not so fortunate results. Many friendships were made and renewed during the event.   The four teams vying for medals in the final play off were the Czech Republic, Germany, Russia and Sweden.   The medal games, very closely contested, could have gone either way, but the final result saw a delighted and worthy German team taking the Gold Medal. The Silver Medal going to the Czech Republic and Bronze to Sweden. The Russian team fought bravely but just missed a medal by the finest of margins.   Thank you Kitzbühel for a wonderful experience.   EMCC 2008 AT KITZBÜHEL HAS STARTED September 22, 2008   The European Mixed Curling Championship 2008 at Kitzbühel, Austria were opened yesterday with a beautiful Opening Ceremony in downtown Kitzbühel. The games have just started and live results can be viewed on the EMCC homepage www.emcc2008.at....... or click on the EMCC logo for direct access to the EMCC homepage..... WCT-E PRESS RELEASE: EUROPEAN JUNIOR CURLING TOUR (EJCT) July 16, 2008 "The European Curling Tour (WCT-E) announces the start of an elite Junior Curling Tour. The tour is designed for the best European junior teams to test their skills against their direct competitors on a regular basis in international competition. We have many top junior teams wanting to play in the WCT-E events every year, but for obvious reasons they can’t always be accommodated. This tour will be a series of competitive events throughout the season and the 2 winners, men’s and women’s, will have a spot reserved for them at each of the following seasons WCT-E events.    As with the men’s and women’s WCT-E events, teams will collect points at all of the events for each of the top 8 finishes. These points will be accumulated for an over all ranking. There will be a page on the WCT-E website(in development) dedicated to  the juniors with tour information, rules, event information, team information, international points and ranking etc   EJCT Chairman, under the Supervision of the WCT-E, will be Sune Frederiksen (Czech/Denmark). In his committee at the moment are Ole Ingvaldsen (Norway) and Rhona Martin (Scotland) with one or 2 more additions coming in the near future. This Seasons events will take place in:   Oslo 24th-26th October 2008   Inverness 14th-16th November 2008   Hamburg 16th-18th January 2009   Further expansion and development of the EJCT will take place in the upcoming seasons.   We hope this will continue to help the development of young teams and provide a fluid stepping stone as they go on to play in International Men’s and Women’s competition."   For further information about the EJCT and entry information please contact   Sune Frederiksen frederiksensune@hotmail.com TRAVEL INFORMATION ECC 2008 ÖVIK, SWEDEN July 14, 2008 For detailed information with regard to flights to and from Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, on the occasion of the ECC 2008, please visit the homepage of the Organising Committee under www.ecc2008.se/en/index.cfm.   C Chamois-Logo-Design: Alfons Walde 1933/VBK Wien DRAW OF EMCC 2008 KITZBÜHEL June 2, 2008 The draw for the European Mixed Curling Championships 2008 at Kitzbühel, Austria, has been finalised. To view the draw please click HERE... THE 1st EUROPEAN SENIORS INVITATION CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP June 1, 2008 As a result of the very successful World Women's and Seniors Championships held in Paisley, Scotland in 2005, the Local Organising Committee were left with a financial surplus to use for curling development in the West of Scotland. The Committee have made two offers of event sponsorship. The first allowed Braehead Curling Rink to hold a very successful International women's event in January 2008. Greenacres Curling Rink, the venue of the World Seniors in 2005 have accepted the second offer and will hold the inaugural European Seniors Invitation event in October this year. Invitations have been issued to all member nations of the European Curling Federation asking, where possible, that they give their men's and women's champion teams from last season the opportunity to take part in this first International competition for Seniors in Europe. In addition to the sponsorship received from the 2005 events, Greenacres are also assisting with some further sponsorship of their own and the package being offered is a most attractive one. There is no doubt that this is an exciting development in Senior curling and we trust that the event will be a great success.  Please note: This is NOT an ECF championship!!! REVISED ECF RULES OF COMPETITION AND SYSTEM OF PLAY FOR ECC AND EMCC May 30, 2008 Competitions ECF Revised Competition Rules Click here for the revised rules of the European Curling Competition Click here for the revised rules of the European Mixed Curling Competition. Systems of Play Having listened to feedback from Member Associations involved in the B section of the European Championships and Member Associations involved in the Mixed European Championships, the Executive Committee of the Federation has amended the Systems of play to reflect the feedback and improve the playing experience for all concerned. Click here for revised Playing System of European Championships. Click here for revised Playing System of Mixed European Championships.   Playing Rule Changes Please pay attention to the new WCF rules that include changes to: Use of the Draw shot Challenge Playoffs for Relegation to a Qualifying competition Cresting- two additional positions Many other  changes Jeanette Johnston Competitions Convenor NEW ECF CRESTING POLICY May 27, 2008 The ECF Executive Board has decided to amend the ECF Cresting Policy in line with the recent amendments of the WCF Cresting Policy adopted at the WCF Annual Meeting in Grand Forks. This means that advertising on the side of the leg is now allowed with immediate effect. The new ECF Cresting Policy has been uploaded to this homepage and can be found HERE (the amendments are marked in bold) EUROPEAN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS - SYSTEM OF PLAY May 22, 2008   The Executive Board of the Federation has considered the System of Play for the 2008 Championship and has agreed for this year's Championship only, to make the following change.   In the event of there being more than 20 teams entered in the B Group and three Sections being required the page system will not apply. The following will come into force.   On completion of the Round Robin the top two teams in each section will move forward to a play-off.   The winning Round Robin team from each section will be ranked as 1. 2. or 3.on the Last Draw shot as agreed in Grand Forks to be the new rule.   The second placed Round Robin team from each section  also will be ranked 1. 2. or 3 on the Last Draw Shot as agreed in Grand Forks.   The second team rankings will play off 2 v 3; the winning team will play the 1st ranked team which will decide the team to take the 4th place.   This team becomes the 4th team, joining the section winners already ranked 1. 2. and 3.   The teams ranked 1, 2, 3 and 4  compete as :-  1 x 4 and 2 v 3, winners to the final and losers to the Bronze game.   Where there are less than 20 teams and therefore two sections or less the Page System will apply.   N.B.This system will be applied to the EMCC as it has been agreed to have 3 sections. A final decision will be made when the entry numbers are known. FINNISH CURLING ASSOCIATION CELEBRATES 30TH ANNIVERSARY Helsinki, April 19, 2008 The Finnish Curling Association (FCA) has today celebrated its 30th anniversary at the Ballroom of the Hotel Arthur in Helsinki. The President of the Finnish Curling Association and ECF Executive Board Member, Olli Rissanen, welcomed numerous Finnish top Curlers as well as international guests to this event. The ECF was represented by its Secretary General, Saskia Krügl. In her speech she congratulated FCA to this anniversary and thanked them for being such an active part of European Curling. From left to right: Saskia Krügl (ECF Secretary General), Yrjö Franssila (FCA Executive), Riikka Louhivuori (FCA Vice-President), Olli Rissanen (FCA President), Minna Rissanen, Silver Uustalu (Secretary Estonian Curling Association) and partner EMCC 2008 KITZBÜHEL GOES ONLINE!! C Chamois-Logo-Design: Alfons Walde 1933/VBK Wien April 5, 2008 The Organising Committee of the 2008 European Mixed Curling Championships at Kitzbühel, Austria goes online! All details about the championships, information on Kitzbühel and its hotels (with exceptionally good offers for players and officials) can now be viewed at www.emcc2008.at. ECF VICE-PRESIDENT INSPECTS EMCC 2008 VENUE March 16, 2008     E.C.F. Vice-President, Andrew Ferguson-Smith, recently undertook an inspection visit to Kitzbühel, the venue awarded the organization of the European Mixed Curling Championships 2008.   During his visit, the Vice-President took the opportunity to visit the ice facility, the selected hotels, and the locality itself.   He was able to meet with the Mayor and Vice-Mayor of Kitzbühel, and with other municipal authorities, with the President and the Secretary-General of the Austrian Curling Association, and with the President and members of the Organizing Committee.   At the conclusion of his visit, Mr. Ferguson-Smith made the following remarks:   "For several years now, I have been an enthusiastic participant at the Austrian Open, held annually in Kitzbühel.   For this reason, from the very outset, I had full confidence in Kitzbühel as an ideal venue for the EMCC, which was conceived in part to offer appropriate localities not boasting two full-size ice facilities, the opportunity nevertheless to welcome prestigious international championships.   My visit has enabled me to acquaint myself in much greater detail with the preparations being put in place for the Championship's celebration, and to reconfirm in my mind Kitzbühel´s eminent suitability for this event.   The Championship will be played at Kitzbühel´s recently inaugurated Mercedes-Benz Sportpark, which will offer participants every facility required.   The accommodataion facilities (players hotel, pensions, appartments) recommended for players and officials, will provide participants with a high degree of comfort during their stay, and are located in close proximity to the ice.   The Organizing Committee has been particularly successful in negotiating attractive tariffs.   The town of Kitzbühel, situated amid towering Tyrolean peaks, is absolutely charming, and will undoubtedly cater well for curlers' off-ice hours.   My meetings with the local authorities confirmed that the Organizing Committee enjoys full support not only at municipal, but also at regional and at national level.   The Austrian Curling Association is, of course, happy to provide any assistance requested of it.   Conversations with Mr. Richard Obermoser, Mrs. Traudi Koudelka and Mrs. Veronika Huber of the Organizing Committee, and a most convincing presentation prepared by Ms. Karina Toth on ceremonies and festivities amply demonstrated the attention to detail from which the Championship will benefit.   I am looking forward very much to this event, which I am confident will meet participants' expectations in every way." REGISTRATION FOR EMCC 2008 HAS STARTED March 14, 2008 ECF member nations, that wish to enter a team for the European Mixed Curling Championships 2008 at Kitzbühel, AUT, which will take place from September 22-27, 2008, have now been invited by the ECF Secretariat to do so. Entries will be accepted until April 30, 2008 and the respective entry forms have already been sent out by the ECF Secretariat. EUROPEAN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011 January 29, 2008 The city of Sofia (BUL), which has already successfully hosted the World Junior Curling Championships 1994 as well as the European Curling Championships 2004, has reconfirmed its interest in hosting the European Curling Championships in 2011. The successor of the host cities 2008 Örnsköldsvik (SWE), 2009 Aberdeen (SCO) and Champéry (SUI) will be determined during the ECF meetings to be held in December 2008 in Örnsköldsvik, SWE, i.e. three years prior to the event in 2011. Bids to host the ECC 2011 may be presented to the ECF until October 31, 2008 and all ECF member nations are herewith invited to do so. The official ECF bid-guidelines can be obtained directly from the ECF Secretariat.  LE GRUYERE EUROPEAN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP December 8, 2007 The picturesque Bavarian town of Füssen is an ideal venue for a European Championship. Access from hotels or apartments to the curling rinks is a manageable walking distance in order to work up an appetite for generous portions of delicious Le Gruyère Cheese which was much in evidence throughout this event. It was indeed a pleasure to wander through the “old town” unheeded by traffic and not having one’s eardrums assaulted by unending canned music, but rather to be able to enjoy the sweet refrains of the street musicians’ live music and to enjoy the individuality of small shops and cafes.   The main arena wherein played the A section was bright and welcoming with plenty of atmosphere created by the supporters. The teams on the ice enhanced the colourful spectacle attired in their associations’ colours; although this was not reflected at the closing ceremony when a number of teams could not be bothered to wear the full regulation uniform, showing discourtesy to both the organising committee and the sponsor, Le Gruyère.   The B Ice Hall was somewhat austere in comparison and there were some remarks made regarding the matched quality of the stones and the length of time taken by some teams to complete a game. However, the newer associations were to be commended on the improved shot making abilities which they displayed.   It was a pity that the more vocal supporters were denied the opportunity of facing the winning teams when the medals were presented, no doubt this procedure was dictated by T.V. whose presentation of the sport was superb. Indeed one of the highlights of the week, for those who had the opportunity, was to view the inside of the pantechnicon which houses the unbelievable tangle of wires, levers, monitors and buttons by which the very professional projection of the sport appears on our T.V.’s.   For those who had the time and the stamina, a visit to the Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles was a must, and the Füssen Hertitage Museum’s display of musical instruments is a reminder of how the musical tradition is still enjoyed in the wonderful Prince’s Hall.   There were certain controversial issues which arose during the championship which will need to be addressed but that should not detract from the Host committee’s hard work, the spectacular display of fireworks and operatic entertainment at the closing banquet, the inspirational play of the teams, the continuing support of the event sponsor Le Gruyère AOC and those who worked quietly behind the scenes.   Congratulations to all the Medal winners, you were a joy to watch, thank you all competing teams and long may the traditional curling spirit prevail.     Men’s “A” Divison Gold Scotland Silver Norway Bronze Denmark   Women’s “A” Division Gold Sweden Silver Scotland Bronze Denmark   Men’s “B” Division Gold * Ireland Silver * Spain Bronze Latvia   Women’s “B” Division Gold * England Silver * Netherlands Bronze France.   * promoted to the “A” Section positions 9and10.   PHOTOGRAPHS Photographic Images Courtesy of Hugh Stewart   LE GRUYERE EUROPEAN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP Gold Medal Winner Scotland LE GRUYERE EUROPEAN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS Gold Medal Winner Sweden LE GRUYERE EUROPEAN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP Gold Medal winner Ireland LE GRUYERE EUROPEAN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP Gold Medal Winner England ECF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING December 4, 2007 At the Annual General Meeting of the European Curling Federation held today at Füssen, Germany at which 27 nations out of the 35 ECF member nations were represented, the major decisions taken and/or announced were as follows: The European Curling Championships 2010 have been awarded to Champery, Switzerland. The European Mixed Curling Championships will in future be played in only 3 groups (previously 4 groups) so as to allow the participating teams more games. A completely revised constitution has been adopted to enter into force as of January 1, 2008 EUROPEAN CURLING LIVE - ONLINE! November 29, 2007 In partnership with Eurosport, Eurosport.com and the World Curling Federation, CurlTV.com will be broadcasting the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2007 live from Füssen, Germany on December 1st-8th. This year the event will host a new record 55 teams from 32 nations including 23 women’s and 32 men’s teams. There is bound to be some great curling in Füssen and you can watch all the live curling action on http://www.curltv.com/ecc2007/ or through http://www.eurosport.yahoo.com . Even better yet, when you log in from a country within the Eurosport region, you can watch all the curling for FREE! EUROSPORT TV SCHEDULE ECC FÜSSEN 2007 November 16, 2007 The following games of the Le Gruyere AOC European Curling Championships will be covered by Eurosport:  Dec. 01 12:00 SWE-NOR Dec. 02 13:00 SCO-GER Dec. 03 08:00 SWE-SCO 12:00 ger-cze Dec. 04 09:00 GER-NOR 14:00 den-ger Dec. 05 09:00 rus-ger 14:00 GER-FRA 19:00 (Women) selected on standings Dec. 06 08:00 (Men) selected on standings 20:00 to be advised Dec. 07 08:00 to be advised 14:00 Semi-Final Women 19:00 Semi-Final Men Dec. 08 09:00 Final Women 13:00 Final Men Schedule is subject to change without notice! ECF REVISED CONSTITUTION November 10, 2007 The European Curling Federation’s Executive Committee has finalised its revised draft of the 1998 ECF Constitution.   This draft has been circulated to all Member Associations by the ECF Secretary and will be discussed for ratification at the European Curling Federation’s Annual General Meeting held in Füssen on December 4th 2007.   ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The ECF is indebted to Bob Cowan, Editor of The Scottish Curler Magazine for the photograph of the Wales' team, winners of the ECMC. WALES WINS EUROPEAN MIXED 2007 September 29th 2007 Congratulations to Wales on winning the European Mixed Curling Championships 2007 at Madrid, Spain. The team composed of Adrian Meikle, Lesley Carol, Andrew Tanner, Blair Hughes and Chris Wells defeated Denmark 6:5 in the finals at Palacio de Hielo and won the country's first ever European title! The bronze medal match between Germany and Austria finished 5:3 in favour of the German Schöpp-team. At the same time the European Curling Federation announced that the fourth edition of the very popular European Mixed Curling Championships will be held in Kitzbühel, Austria in the fall of 2008. EUROPEAN SENIOR INVITATION July 16th 2007   We are sorry to announce the postponement of the inaugural “European Senior Invitation Curling Championship” scheduled to be held at Greenacres Curling Club, Scotland in October 2007. The reason for the postponement from 2007 till autumn 2008 is due to a clash of competition dates in Scotland and no alternative date is available.   LE GRUYERE EUROPEAN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2007 July 5th 2007.   The LE GRUYÈRE EUROPEAN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP will be held in the town of Füssen, Germany from 1st to 8th December 2007.   A record number of nations have entered; a total of 56 teams made up from 33 men’s and 23 women’s teams from a total of 35 nations will participate.   Men’s teams from Iceland and Ukraine will take part for the first time.   Good luck to all competitors. LE GRUYERE AOC RENEWS EUROPEAN CURLING SPONSORSHIP 22nd May 2007   PERTH, Scotland – The World Curling Federation (WCF) announced that Le Gruyère AOC has renewed its title sponsorship of the European Curling Championships. The two-year agreement confirms that the 2007 and 2008 events will continue as the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships.  “We are delighted to have Le Gruyère AOC continue its strong partnership with the world’s fastest-growing winter sport,” said WCF President Les Harrison. “The Le Gruyère European Championships are a highlight of Europe’s sporting calendar.” “This is a great day for curling,” said Malcolm Richardson, President of the European Curling Federation (ECF). “We have seen the men’s and women’s Le Gruyère European Championships grow with astonishing speed, with upwards of 30 countries participating in what is now two pools of competition. The partnership of Le Gruyère and this critical championship also grows in strength each year, and we are most pleased with this announcement.” The 2007 Le Gruyère European Championships take place from December 1-8 in Füssen, Germany, with the 2008 event scheduled for December 6-13 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The top ranked men’s and women’s teams qualify for the World Curling Championships in 2008 and 2009. Andy Kapp, 2007 silver medallist at last March’s Ford World Curling Championship in Edmonton, will serve double-duty in Füssen. Kapp is the vice-chair of the organizing committee and will also represent Germany on the ice during the men’s side of the Championship. “We are pleased to renew our association with this great sport and these great Championships,” said Pierre Dubois, President of Le Gruyère AOC. “As curling athletes strive for Olympic and World Championship success it is our pleasure to support their efforts, and accompany them on their road to victory.” The 2006 Le Gruyère European Curling Championships were won by Switzerland (men’s skip Andreas Schwaller) and Russia (women’s skip Ludmila Privivkova) in front of record crowds at the St. Jakob Arena in Basel, Switzerland. The event also set records with a remarkable 50 teams competing, representing 30 member associations. ABOUT LE GRUYERE AOC: Le Gruyère AOC is a hard cheese produced in the Western part of Switzerland, with a characteristic taste obtained from the best quality of “not pasteurized” milk, coming straight from cows fed on grass. Depending on the age of the cheese (maturation of five to 18 months) it has more or less character. Le Gruyère AOC has won numerous global awards for its product including World Champion of “all Categories” at the World Cheese Awards in London in 1992, 2002, 2005 and most recently in March of 2007. Please visit: www.gruyere.com FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:   George Karrys Media Relations Officer, World Curling Federation 1-905-997-3348 media@worldcurling.org www.worldcurling.org   EUROPEAN SENIORS INVITATION May 30th. 2007   Following Sponsorship received from the World Women’s and Senior Championships in 2005 we are delighted to advise that Greenacres Curling Club will host a European Invitation Seniors event from the 10th of October until the 13th. October 2007.   The format of the event will, hopefully, be 18 men’s and 18 women’s teams by invitation in the initial stage.   The entry fee per team will be £50.00 and all teams will be guaranteed five games in three groups of six. The top team will go straight to the Semi-final with other six playing a Quarter-final. This will, of course, mean that the group with the best team will have three places.   Accommodation has been arranged at a maximum cost of £35.00 per head Bed and Breakfast for a room with two sharing and could be less at hotels close to Greenacres.   A final banquet will take place on the evening of the 13th which will allow all teams to return home on Sunday October 14th.   Transport will be included from hotels to Greenacres and from airport arrival to hotels.   Invitations will be issued to the 12 men’s and women’s teams at the Scottish finals this year with a guarantee of a place for the first 8 applications, with the others being on a reserve list. It is hoped that the remaining places will be taken up by European teams to make this an exciting International event.   The invitation is to all European Federation member nations to send one team to this inaugural event. Seniors’ curling is on a threshold and we hope this tournament could a stepping stone to further events.   Applications should be sent to Greenacres Curling Club, Howwood, Renfrewshire. PA7 5AY. Telephone: 0044 (0)1505 850633.   EXCELLENT RESULT FOR EUROPEAN JUNIORS March 12, 2007 Congratulations to all the Men’s and Women’s  World Junior Teams for the superb quality of curling at the recent World Championships held at Eveleth Minnesota USA. Canada’s Junior Men’s team taking the Gold Medal over Sweden (Silver) and after an extra end  the Bronze Medal was won by Switzerland’s Men’s team over Denmark. Scotland’s Junior Women’s team took the Gold Medal, beating Canada’s Women by one shot after an extra end.  Denmark’s women’s team pipped its men’s team by achieving the Bronze Medal over the USA. A very good result for Junior European Curling.   ENTRIES COMPLETED FOR EMCC 2007 AT MADRID, SPAIN May 11, 2007   A record number of 26 nations have registered to participate in the 3rd edition of the European Mixed Curling Championships 2007, which will take place at Madrid, Spain from September 24-29.   For further details about the championships and for bookings please visit the homepage of the Host Committee under www.emcc2007.es   EUROPEAN SENIORS April 29th 2007   The proposed European Senior Curling Championship has been put on hold.   However, the profit accrued from the World Women's Championship and the World Senior Championship held in Paisley 2005 set aside for this purpose will benefit the European Seniors in the form of a European Senior Invitation to be held at Greenacres Ice Rink, Scotland.   The date scheduled for this event is October 31st until November 3rd 2007. This is a preliminary notice and more details will follow. WHEELCHAIR SUCCESS February 26, 2007   Congratulations to Norway,winners of the Gold Medal at the World Wheelchair Curling Championship held in Solleftea Sweden.   An exiting final which was decided on a measure on the last stone of the last end resulted in Norway's win over Switzerland who took the Silver Medal.   Scotland, after being three nil down after two ends against Canada in the Bronze medal game took a four in the third end. This lead was sustained by winning two more ends resulting in the final score of seven to four for Scotland.   The teams experienced extremely cold weather but this was more than compensated by the excellent and generous hospitality from the Swedish Curling Association. SWITZERLAND ENDS EURO DROUGHT Picture: copyright www.curlit.com December 16, 2006 It was going to take a special performance to upend defending world champion Scotland in the final of the 2006 Le Gruyère European Curling Championship. To the joy of a boisterous home crowd at St. Jakob Arena, Switzerland's new - and now disbanded - all-star team did just that, beating Scotland's David Murdoch 7-6 to win the championship. Skip Andreas Schwaller and new temporary teammate Ralph Stöckli rode their experimental lineup right through the eight-day event, ably supported by front-enders Thomas Lips and Damien Grichting, in winning their country's first European title in 20 years. Murdoch's men fell behind 3-1 and 5-2 before roaring back with a three-ender in the seventh frame. With the Swiss clinging to a nervous 6-5 lead in the 10th, the Scots maneuvered well to lurk for the deuce, but an uncharacteristic miss on Murdoch's first stone forced him to take the tying single with his last rock. Switzerland held the hammer in the extra-end, played it cool, and after a critical double-takeout on his first rock, Schwaller made a cool draw to the four-foot for the win. At next year's Le Gruyère European Curling Championship in Fussen, Germany, B-pool qualifiers Czech Republic (B-pool champion) and Italy graduate to the A-division, while Ireland and Wales both drop to the B-pool. RUSSIA WINS 2006 EURO WOMEN'S TITLE picture: copyright curlit.com December 16, 2006 Russia defeated Italy 9-4 to win the women's 2006 Le Gruyère European Curling Championship, the first major curling title for the country that made its international curling debut in 1992. Skip Ludmila Privivkova, the defending world junior champion, added the prestigious European title to her trophy case by scoring three points in the third end and stealing the sixth and seventh ends. Italy's Diana Gaspari scored three in the second end but could only muster a single point the rest of the way. Privivkova and teammates Olga Jarkova, Nkeirouka Ezekh, Ekaterina Galkina and Margarita Fomina went undefeated in the round-robin with a 9-0 record against a strong field of Olympic champions and medallists. Russia then lost to the Italians in the first "Page" playoff game 7-5 but recovered to defeat Switzerland's Mirjam Ott 7-5 in the semi-final. At next year's Le Gruyère European Curling Championship in Fussen, Germany, B-pool qualifiers Austria (B-pool champion) and Finland graduate to the A-division, while Norway, skipped by two-time World and European champion Dordi Nordby of Norway, falls to the B-pool, along with the Netherlands. Triumph for Europe in the Continental Cup 28 November 2006   Team Europe scored a great victory over Team North America in the 4th Continental Cup held in Chilliwack, Canada last weekend.   The overall score at the end of the 4 days of competition was  EUROPE 229, North America 171.   This means that both continents have now won the Cup twice but the future of the event is in doubt unless a sponsor can be found to underwrite the cost. Full details can be found at http://www.worldcurling.org/CurlHome/Results/2006-2007/CC/ Basel TV schedule from Eurosport November 10th 2006   Eurosport's schedule for the televising of games from the European Championships in Basel in December has been announced: UPPER CASE - Men, lower case - Women Backup games will be televised if main game finishes early   Sat  9th Dec 2000 GER v SCO Deferred Broadcast Sun 10th Dec 1700 sui v ger LIVE (backup nor-sco) Mon 11th Dec 0800 SCO v NOR LIVE (backup DEN-SUI) 1600 SWE v SUI Deferred Broadcast Tue 12th Dec 0900 GER v DEN LIVE (backup SUI-SCO) 1500 rus v swe LIVE (backup den-sco) Wed 13th Dec 0900 rus v ger LIVE (backup sco-swe) 1500 SUI v GER LIVE (backup SWE-DEN) 1900 sui v den Deferred broadcast Thu 14th Dec 0800 SWE v GER LIVE Fri 15th Dec 0900 Play Offs LIVE 1500 Semi-Final (Women) LIVE Sat 16th Dec 0900 Final (Women) Deferred broadcast (17th) 1500 Final (Men) LIVE            Scotland win European Mixed October 23, 2006 Congratulations to Scotland on winning the 2006 European Mixed Championships with an 8-4 defeat of home nation, Italy in the Final. Russia defeated Sweden for the bronze medal. For results, rankings and details about the teams please click HERE   You read it here first in our preview - The hot favourites this year must be Scotland skipped by former World Junior Champion Tom Brewster with former World Champions, Jackie Lockhart and David Hay at third and second.   And so it proved as they went undefeated through the tournament. European Mixed Curling Championships 2006 Claut October 12, 2006 On Tuesday, October 17, 2006 the European Mixed Curling Championships 2006 will start in Claut, Italy. For results, rankings and details about the teams please click HERE Füssen, GER to stage the 2007 Le Gruyere AOC European Curling Championships (ECC) September 21, 2006 The city of Füssen, GER, will host the 2007 Le Gruyere AOC European Curling Championships (ECC) between the 1st and 8th December. This will be the second time, after 1997, that the city of Füssen, situated at the southern end of the Romantic Road and in the heart of one of the finest holiday areas in the entire Alpine region, will host the ECC and it will be the 6th time that the event will have taken place in Germany. The 2007 event will mark the 33rd edition of the European Curling Championships. Madrid to host the 2007 European Mixed Curling Championship September 15, 2006 Madrid will stage the 2007 European Mixed Curling Championship, it was announced today by the European Curling Federation (ECF). The championship will be held September 24-29, 2007 at the Palacio de Hielo “Dreams” at Madrid, and will mark the first time that Spain has hosted a European event. The 2007 EMCC will be the third edition of the EMCC; the inaugural event took place in Andorra in 2005 with the 2006 edition taking place in Claut, Italy.     FUTURE EUROPEAN CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS August 8th, 2006   The Executive are pleased to announce that the 2009 European Curling Championship has been awarded to Aberdeen in Scotland.   We are also delighted to say we have cleared the outstanding problem with Ornskoldsvik and the Championship will go ahead there between the 6th and 13th of December in 2008 as previously advised.   The 2007 Championship venue is not quite yet finalised but hopefully we will be able to announce this in the very near future.     DRAW OF THE EMCC 2006 CLAUT, ITALY July 31st, 2006 The draw of the European Mixed Curling Championships 2006 at Claut, Italy has been finalised. Please click HERE if you want to have a look at it. ENTRIES FOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS July 3rd 2006   A record equalling 53 teams have entered the 2006 European Championships to be held in Basel, Switzerland in December. Thirty men's teams and 23 women's teams will fight over the titles currently held by the Norwegian men and the Swedish women. This is the same total number as 2005, but the men' entries have risen by 1 while the women have dropped one. New participants this year will be Lithuania (men and women) and Serbia and Montenegro (men) while there is no entry this year from last year's competitors - Andorra's men, Bulgaria's women or Ireland's women. ENTRIES FOR EUROPEAN MIXED CHAMPIONSHIPS 2006 1st June 2006 Twenty three nations have entered the second European Mixed Curling Championships to be held in Claut, Italy between 17th and 21st October. This is the same number as last year, though Austria, Kazakhstan, Lithuania and Norway are new entries taking the place of Andorra, Croatia, England and Luxembourg who have not entered this year.   Once all the entries have been confirmed by payment of the newly imposed entry fee of 200 Euros the draw will be made and published on this website. WORLD MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS 9th April 2006    Scotland won only their 4th World title in 47 years beating Canada 7-4 in the final. This came after they had lost the Page 1/2 game to Canada by 2-8, but they bounced back by beating Norway in the bronze medal game.   For 3 members of the team it was their second World Championship Warwick Smith and Ewan MacDonald (1999) and fifth man Peter Smith (1991).   Ewan MacDonald also won the Collie Campbell Sportsmanship award. WORLD WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS 26th March 2006   In a tense final, Anette Norberg and her team from Sweden won their 5th consecutive major title with a 10-9 victory over the USA. Canada finished third while a rejuvenated Andrea Schopp got Germany back into the World spotlight with a fine 4th place finish. WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS 19th March 2006   Congratulations to Russia on winning their first World Championships when they defeated Canada in the final of the Junior Women's in Jeonju City, Korea. well done also to Denmark in getting the bronze.   In the Junior Men's Championships, Canada won yet again but Sweden and Scotland picked up the silver and bronze while Logan Gray (the Scottish skip) received the Sportsmanship Award. WORLD SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS 11th March 2006   The World Senior Championships which were held at the Taarnby Club in Copenhagen between the 4th and 11th March produced mixed results for the European teams. The Swedish women were successful in winning the gold medal, coming from behind to defeat Canada in the final. Switzerland were third. In the men's event, it was an all North American final with Canada dominating over the USA. Sweden upheld Europe's honour with the bronze medal. For full details of the competition and the results see the competition webpage. EUROPEAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS January 7th 2006     After 2 very close finals, Italy (men) and Scotland (ladies) won the European Junior Championships and will be represented in the World Junior Championships in Korea in March. They will be joined by 5 other European teams - Scotland, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark (men) and Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Switzerland and Norway (ladies). We wish them all good luck and look forward to European success.   For results click here... Sunday 18th December 2005 Well it is all over now and the medals have all been presented at the European Championships in Garmisch Partenkirchen.   As the snow fell on this Olympic town, the action inside the arena was red hot as the closing ceremonies were played out and the teams said their farewells.   For Pal Trulsen of Norway it was the end of 20 years of trying as he at last won a European gold to add to his Olympic gold as Peter Lindholm of Sweden failed once again to repeat earlier European triumphs.   In the ladies event, Anette Norberg continued her amazing run of success adding a 5th consecutive  European Championship to her World Championship title, emphasising that she is one of the favourites for the Olympic gold in Torino in February. Her victory over Mirjam Ott of Switzerland (herself a former European Champion) was hard fought.   Bronze medals went to Scotland (men) and Denmark (ladies).   In the World Championship Challenge matches there were wins for Germany over Russia in the ladies and for Finland over France in a men's Challenge which went right down to the last stone of the third and deciding game.     22.10.2005 Finland is the first ever European Mixed Champion! At the inaugural event held at the Palau de Gel at Canillo, Andorra, where 23 nations were represented, the Finnish foursome Markku Uusipaavalniemi, Kirsi Nykänen, Teemu Salo and Tiina Kautonen won the gold medal! The silver medal went to the team of Sweden followed by team Germany, which was awarded the bronze medal.   The event proved to be extremely popular both for spectators and players! The 2006 edition of the European Mixed Curling Championships (EMCC) will be held at Claut, Italy, former host of the University Games. The dates of the 2006 event are still to be announced.   22.03.2005 Belgium was accepted as the 35th member nation of the European Curling Federation when the Semi-Annual General Meeting of the ECF took place today at the Holiday Inn Hotel at Paisley, Scotland. Belgium was granted ECF membership for the second time in history: They had already been ECF member in the previous century but around the year 2000 their activities ceased. They now received a warm welcome back!   At the same time the ECF General Meeting decided to have the ECF registered in Berne, Switzerland and adopted several additions to the ECF constitution in order to comply with Swiss law.   4.3.2005 We received this press release from the President of the new founded curling association in Serbia and Montenegro, and we wish them the best of luck and success:   "This was an exciting and historical week for curling in Serbia and Montenegro.   First news is that on Tuesday the 22nd February 2005. around 2:15 PM Belgrade time (1:15 GMT) National Curling Association of Serbia and Montenegro (NCASM) was unanimously accepted as full member of the Olympic Committee of Serbia and Montenegro during its General Assembly. On the 18th of February we had a first official training with the five members of the Bulgarian Curling Association including Lubomir Velinov the general secretary of BCA.   They have brought all the equipment and stones to Belgrade. The first stone in the history of sports in Serbia and Montenegro was pushed by my self (Marko Stojanovic) around 5:30 PM Belgrade time, the second one by Miodrag Kastratovic, general secretary of the NCASM. There where 30 people training including sportsmen in wheelchairs from Serbia and Bulgaria. We have organized an international promotional friendly match between Serbia and Montenegro and Bulgaria on Saturday the 19th of February 2005 at noon Belgrade time. The first stones where pushed by wheelchair curlers of Serbia and Montenegro and Bulgaria, Sinisa Milenkovic (SCG), Zeljko Cirkovic (SCG) and Ivan Sopov (BUL). After them me and Miodrag Kastratovic have done the same. HE the Ambassador of Bulgaria in SCG has opened the event. The media coverage was incredible. All the national and satellite media in Serbia and Montenegro have covered the event and now everybody in Serbia and Montenegro knows what curling is. In our team we had a lot of celebrities.   In few days we will have our site with photos and videos for you to see. We are all very excited. We are now officially applying for full membership in the WCF and ECF (We are provisional members of the ECF since 7th of December 2004.)."   Marko Stojanovic,President National Curling Association of Serbia and Montenegro Mobile phone: +381 63 320 169 Address: Gospodar Jevremova 57 11000 Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro Phone/Fax: +381 11 2652 557 amahyh@beotel.yu curlingserbia@yahoo.com markomima@sbb.co.yu To top 7.12.2004 The European Curling Federation held it´s general annual assembly in Sofia and then decided that the 2008 European Championhips will be played in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. Örnsköldsvik, or just Ö-vik as the people there are saying, is situated on the Swedish east coast, about 600 kilometres north of Stockholm. The town has one of the best ice hockey teams in Sweden, MoDo, where famous players like Peter Forsberg and Markus Näslund started their career. But the Örnsköldsvik Curling Club has also produced talents as the 2004 World Junior Champions of Team Niklas Edin.   Since earlier it is decided that the European Championships in 2005 will take place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, in 2006 Basle, Switzerland and 2007 in Andorra, the small country between France and Spain.   The ECF annual assembly also re-elected their President Malcolm Richardson of Scotland, Vice-President Dieter Kolb of Germany and Secretary/Treasurer Saskia Krügl of Germany.   Members at large became Urs Müller, Switzerland, Leif Öhman, Sweden and Ainslie M. Smith of Scotland.   Regional representatives were Olli Rissanen, Finland of Northern Europe, John Brown, England of United Kingdom, Andrew Ferguson-Smith, Andorra of Central Europa and Konstantin Zadvornov, Russia of Eastern Europe. To top