hogliner issue 1 - World Men`s Curling Championship 2016

hogliner issue 1 - World Men`s Curling Championship 2016

ISSUE 1, SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 2016
HOGLINE NEWS
World Men's Curling Championship, 2nd-10th April 2016, St. Jakobshalle Basel
TODAY ON THE ICE
WMCC 2016 starts with
curlers' parade in the City
The World Men's Curling Championship 2016 was launched yesterday with a parade
in the city center of Basel from Barfüsserplatz to Marktplatz. Teams and delegations
from the 12 participating countries were officially welcomed in the Basel town hall by
Christoph Eymann, Sports Minister of the Canton of Basel-Stadt, WCF President Kate
Caithness, and Bruno Schallberger, President of the organizing committee.
Christoph Eymann welcomed the curlers for the second time in four years in Basel. He
said that his town was proud to host such important sports events as the WMCC, the
annual ATP Tennis tournament and the final of the UEFA soccer league. Kate Caithness,
WCF President, thanked the organizing comittee for their hard work, congratulated all
the athletes on earning the right to represent theirs countries on top curling level and
wished them good luck and good curling. Bruno Schallberger wished the athletes and
spectators a week full of excitement, with teams not only competing for the world
crown, but also for Olympic qualification points. He thanked the City of Basel and all
the volunteers for their invaluable support in hosting this top Curling event.
DRAW 1
14:00
Sheet A
Sweden
v
Japan
Sheet B
Korea
v
Scotland
Sheet C
Norway
v
Russia
Sheet D
Germany
v
Switzerland
DRAW 2
19:00
Sheet A
Russia
v
Korea
Sheet B
USA
v
Denmark
Sheet C
Canada
v
Finland
Sheet D
Norway
v
Scotland
ARE YOU A PONDHOPPER?
If you have crossed an ocean
(Atlantic or Pacific) to attend a
World Curling (Men’s or Women’s),
then you meet the one and only
requirement for becoming a
member of the Pond Hopper Club.
The next step is to register, and
once this is done you are a Pond
Hopper for life!
PAGE 4
Christoph Socin and Bruno Schallberger from the WMCC
2016 Organizing Committee with Basel's Sports Minister
Christoph Eymann and WCF President Kate Caithness.
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HOGLINE NEWS
ISSUE 1, SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2016
The World Curling Federation
turns 50 - Congratulations!
The World Curling Federation (WCF) has marked its 50th anniversary
last night, with a special celebration ahead of the World Men’s Curling
Championship 2016 in Basel.
Representatives from member associations together with invited guests
and guest of honour President Thomas Bach of the International
Olympic Committee (IOC), attended a banquet at the Schlüsselzunft
Restaurant in Basel hosted by WCF President, Kate Caithness and the
WCF board. Guests included many past and present curling greats,
such as e.g. the first Scottish World Champion skip Chuck Hay from
Perth. The governing body of the Olympic Winter Sport of Curling and
the Paralympic Winter Sport of Wheelchair Curling was originally
founded in 1966 by only five nations - Scotland, Canada, Sweden,
Switzerland and Norway. Today, its membership
includes 54 nations from all continents of the world.
The WCF is managed by an Executive Board of
seven, each from a different country and elected by
WCF Member Associations. A permanent staff of
fifteen employees is based out of the secretariat in
Perth, Scotland.
Kate Caithness said: “It is an honour to have the
President of the International Olympic Committee
with us in Switzerland as we begin our 50th
anniversary celebrations. Since its inception in 1966
the World Curling Federation has seen our sport
grow significantly and enjoy much success. We have
seen curling progress within new markets in the
Pacific-Asia region, where the next two Olympic Winter Games will be held, Europe and the Americas. Curling now
enjoys four medal disciplines and an increased number of
teams," said Kate Caithness at the banquet."
Kate, who is the 10th president of the WCF, thanked IOC
President Bach for the warm welcome and the support that
the sport of Curling is receiving from the Olympic family.
She also thanked the countless persons from all over the
planet that have helped to develop curling and make it one
of the most popular winter sports.
President Bach congratulated the Curlers for their great
efforts in developing the sport and for their success in
bringing more and more young athletes to the ice rinks.
Speaking about the new Olympic discipline of Mixed
Doubles he noted that Curling was the only sport that
managed to increase their medals by 50% within one
Olympic period. The IOC President presented the WCF
with a statue representing the IOC motto of faster, higher,
stronger. Together, the two presidents cut the first peace of
the WCF birthday cake.
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HOGLINE NEWS
ISSUE 1, SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2016
A field packed
with experience
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The World Curling Federation’s World Men’s Curling
Championship 2016 gets underway today, with 12
teams representing the world’s top men’s curling
nations.
The 12 teams competing are packed with experience.
They are: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan,
Korea, Norway, Russia, Scotland, defending champions
Sweden, and hosts Switzerland.
Sweden, skipped by Niklas Edin with teammates Oskar
Eriksson, Kristian Lindstroem and Christoffer Sundgren,
won last year's championship in Halifax, Canada and
they return as a complete unit, but face a daunting
challenge knowing that no team has ever retained the
title since Canada's Randy Ferby achieved it in 2003.
Defending champion Sweden: will they be the first
country since Canada in 2003 to retain the world title?
Two other former world champion skips are competing
this year – Norway's Thomas Ulsrud, who won in Beijing
in 2013, and Canada's Kevin Koe, who led his team to
Gold in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy in 2010. Scotland's
Tom Brewster is a two-times world Silver medallist,
while the host nation skip Sven Michel is a former
European champion.
Sven Michel: "Wir sind
aufgestellt, total
motiviert und parat"
Das Schweizer Team an der Curling-Weltmeisterschaft
2016 in Basel hat sich intensiv auf die grosse Herausforderung vor dem Heimpublikum vorbereitet. Skip Sven
Michel und sein Team mit Spielern aus Adelboden und
Bern sind „gut aufgestellt, voll motiviert und positiv
eingestellt. Wir sind parat für die WM in Basel“, sagt der
Berner Oberländer Skip.
Das neu formierte Team musste sich diese Saison nach
einem eher harzigen Start bewähren. Simon Gempeler ist
seit 2009 dabei und spielt wieder seine Lieblings-position
als Lead. Frisch dazu gestossen sind die Gebrüder Marc
und Enrico Pfister vom CC Bern. Skip Der Durchbruch kam
an der Schweizer Meisterschaft im Januar 2016 in Flims
mit zehn Siegen in zwölf Spielen. Sven Michel: "Das war
für das ganze Team eine perfekte Woche. Wir haben von
A bis Z harmoniert, alles lief rund. Das war ein wichtiger
Schlüssel zum Erfolg."
Michel ist sich bewusst, dass der Erwartungsdruck an
einer WM im eigenen Land gross ist. "Aber wir denken
dass uns die Fans und die gute Stimmung in der
St.Jakobshalle auch beflügeln werden. Wir wollen auf alle
Fälle in die Playoffs und hoffen auf eine Medaille."
Finland, the United States and Japan finished fourth,
fifth and sixth respectively at last year's championship
and their three skips – Finland's Aku Kauste, John
Shuster from the USA, and Japan's Yusuke Morozumi –
return with teams that are very close to last year's lineups. Denmark are led by the very experienced Rasmus
Stjerne, while Russia's skip Alexey Stukalsky will be
making his fourth appearance at this event.
For the scores, live coverage, quotes and pictures of
WMCC 2016 visit: www.worldcurling.org/wmcc2016
Curling fans around the world will be able to follow
selected live coverage of the WMCC 2016 events via
the World Curling Federation’s YouTube Channel
www.youtube.com/WorldCurlingTV
A successful Bernese Joint venture
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Swiss Skip Sven Michel from the Adelboden Curling
Club in the Bernese Alps is happy about how things
have developed since, together with his longtime
teammate Simon Gempeler, he joined forces with the
two brothers Enrico and Marc Pfister from Berne, who
were Swiss champions in 2015. "It's a joint venture, we
first had to get used to each other, and the start of the
season was far from perfect. But the breakthrough
came at the Swiss Championship last January in Flims,
when we won ten out of twelve games and really
found our team harmony." The team hopes to meet
high expectances in Switzerland and win a medal.
HOGLINE NEWS
ISSUE 1, SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2016
Pondhoppers Register now!
Are you a Pond Hopper? If you have
crossed an ocean (Atlantic or Pacific) to
attend a World Curling Championship
(Men’s or Women’s), then you meet the
one and only requirement for becoming a
member of the Pond Hopper Club.
The next step is to register, and once this
is done you are a Pond Hopper for life!
Pond Hopper registration takes place
Saturday through Monday (April 2- 4) at
the St. Jakobshalle arena. There is no
registration fee nor any dues!
Then...come celebrate the 45th Annual
Pond Hopper Awards Dinner and Dance at
the Fasnachtsclique Junteressli Cliquen
Keller the evening of Wednesday, April 6.
The party includes a sit-down dinner,
awards program, and the music for your
listening and dancing pleasure! Party
tickets are available at the Pond Hopper
registration desk through Monday, April 4.
You must be a member or a guest of a
member to attend. This is a very special
venue and tickets are limited so don’t
delay. Pick up your tickets today to ensure
that you are part of the fun!
Registration Schedule
at St. Jakobshalle in Basel
Saturday, April 2
2 pm and 7 pm
Sunday, April 3
9am, 2 pm and 7 pm
Monday, April4
9 am, pm and 7 pm
Tweets of the day
@wmcc2016
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#wmcc2016
World Curling @worldcurling
BREAKING | @Olympics President Thomas
Bach to deliver opening stone #wmcc2016
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Curling Canada @CurlingCanada
BREAKING NEWS: Koe, Hebert to miss
Canada’s #wmcc2016 opener. Fondue may
be to blame. Story here: bit.ly/1q94Bl8
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Team Brewster @Team_Brewster
Special feeling wearing the blue and white
of Scotland... had our official practice today,
arena is looking great.
Hogline News
Editor: Mike Müller
Associate Editor: Cony Engler
Photographers: Richard Gray,
Céline Stucki (WCF)
Team Profile: Germany
For Skip Alexander Baumann, Third Manuel Walter, Second Marc
Muskatewitz, Lead Sebastian Schweizer, Alternate Daniel Rothballer
and their Swiss Coach Thomas Lips playing at the Worlds in Basel is
almost a home match. All of them live in Southern Germany's
province of Baden-Würtemberg, just a good hour's drive from Basel.
Lots of German fans, family members and friends are therefore
expected to do the quick ride to Basel to support their favourite
curling team at the WMCC 2016.
Important victories at the ECC
The team has played twice at European Championships and
achieved ranks 6 in 2015 and 8 in 2014, but it is their first
appearance on world level. At the ECC last December im Esbjerg,
they managed to upset such strong teams like Sweden and
Switzerland. And these sucesses give them confidence to create
"one or the other surprise" in the upcoming week.
"We're a hundred percent amateurs", says Baumann, "most of us
have fulltime jobs also during the curling season, Daniel is a student
in St.Gallen. But nevertheless we have practiced hard on our way to
winning the German championship in 2015 and becoming a part of
the German Curling selection".
The foursome has competed in all events of the Curling
Championstour (CCT) in 2015/16 in order to get more match
experience against strong competitors. And - as a season highlight they managed to capture the fifth place at the World Curling Tour
(WCT) Event in Karuizawa, Japan, in mid-December 2015.
Team Baumann zum ersten Mal an der WM
Deutschland mit Skip Alexander Baumann bestreitet an der WM 2016 fast
ein Heimspiel. Vier der fünf Spieler kommen aus den badenwürtembergischen Curling Clubs Schwenningen und Baden Hills. Für Fans
und Familien liegt Basel nur rund 1,5 Autostunden entfernt. Das Team spielt
seine erste WM, hat aber die deutschen Farben an den beiden letzten
Europameisterschaften 2014 und 2015 gut vertreten. In Esbjerg gelangen
im letzten Dezember mit Siegen gegen Weltmeister Schweden und die
Schweiz gar zwei veritable Exploits. "Wir sind überzeugt, dass uns auch in
Basel die eine oder andere Überraschung gelingt," sagt Skip Baumann.
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