Field Taking Shape for the Ford World Men’s

The 2012 European Curling Championships, contested December 7-15 in Karlstad, Sweden, determined eight of the flags that will be flying in Victoria for the 2013 Ford World Men’s Curling Championship. The Swedish team led by Niklas Edin defeated defending champion Thomas Ulsrud from Norway to take the gold medal while the Czech Republic team skipped by Jiri Snitil downed Denmark’s Rasmus Stjerne in the bronze medal game. They all earned their countries the right to compete in the upcoming Ford World Men’s Curling Championship, March 30-April 7 in the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre – as did Andrey Drozdov of Russia, Sven Michel of Switzerland, and Scotland’s Tom Brewster, although it’s not guaranteed that those teams will compete in Victoria; each country has different formats for determining its world championship entry. The eighth and final European berth was claimed by Finland, whose Aku Kauste won the ‘B’ pool in the European championship, and then defeated ‘A’ pool eighth-place finisher Thomas Dufour of France 2-1 in a best-of-three World Challenge playoff. The 12-team field will be rounded out by representatives from Canada, the United States, China and Japan. “You Gotta Be There” for the 2013 Ford World Curling Championship when the top shooters in the game face off in Victoria.  The best seats in the house are available now by clicking here.

Team Sweden skip Niklas Edin (Photo WCF/Richard Gray)