There鈥檚 more on the line at the 2013 Ford World Men鈥檚 Curling Championship than the gorgeous trophy and glowing national pride.
There are also valuable Olympic qualifying points to be earned, and while teams such as sa国际传媒, Scotland, Sweden, Norway and, of course, host Russia, have already secured their positioning for the Sochi Games, others like the United States, China, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Denmark will have to hurry just a little harder in an attempt to qualify.
Points are awarded on order of finish starting with 14 for the winning team, followed by 12, 10 and on down to one for the 12 teams.
A total of 10 men鈥檚 and 10 women鈥檚 teams will compete in Sochi next March. According to the World Curling Federation, the top seven associations (excluding host Russia) who have collected the most qualifying points from the 2012 and 2013 world championships will advance.
鈥淐hina made some great improvements last year. We got halfway, got our seven Olympic points,鈥� said Chinese coach Lorne Hamblin, a Manitoba native who previously coached the Swiss. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the No. 1 goal here are the Olympic points and, obviously, No. 2 is the medals.鈥�
China earned seven points last year with Denmark (six), U.S. (five), Switzerland (four) and Czech Republic (one).
Rui Liu鈥檚 Chinese rink has taken a huge step in Victoria.
Hamblin, who is assisted by his wife, Chris, says he and the Chinese federation purposely bring Liu鈥檚 rink to North America to prepare for better competition in hopes of qualifying. They were in sa国际传媒 from September to November, then the Pacific Championship in New Zealand, followed by trips to Scotland and back to sa国际传媒.
China selected its team from a group of 12 players before the Hamblins whittled it down to five, which include Lui at skip, Xiaoming Xu at third, Dexina Ba at second, lead Jialiang Zang and alternate Dejia Zou. Liu鈥檚 rink finished at 6-5 at the 2012 worlds and was 2-7 at the 2010 Olympics.
鈥淭hree have been with the team previously at the Olympics,鈥� Lorne said of Liu, Xu and Zang. 鈥淲e watched them over 100 games, analyzed them and video-taped them, watched releases. We look at stats and many other things, like attitude. It鈥檚 the whole package that we鈥檝e developed to decide who the players are.鈥�
So far, it鈥檚 paid off as they move into solid contention for a trip to Sochi.
Others, like Switzerland鈥檚 Sven Michell, got off to a fast start here, but has now slipped.
鈥淭here are much more games left, but we are in a good spot,鈥� said Michel. 鈥淲e know we need a good rank here, but there are other teams in the same position. We鈥檝e played well, but I think we鈥檙e in good shape.鈥�
This worlds event is not the final opportunity to qualify, however. The WCF adds that any eligible association that earned qualification points at the 2012 or 2013 worlds or participated at the 2011 worlds, who do not qualify for the 2014 Olympics as a top-seven team or host, can enter the new Olympic Qualification Event, or a last chance bonspiel, in December.
Two teams will qualify out of that competition.
