Team sport played on ice
Doubles curling
(most commonly seen as
mixed doubles
) is a variation of the sport of
curling
with only two players on each team. Mixed doubles is the most common format of doubles curling, where the term 'mixed' specifies that each team is composed of one man and one woman. The term mixed is also used to describe a specific format of 4-person team curling where the team consists of two men and two women and the throwing order alternates genders, see
mixed team
.
With its smaller teams and quicker games, doubles curling has provided an opportunity for more countries to participate in international competition. At the
2019 World Mixed Doubles Championship
48 of the 61
World Curling Federation
member countries were represented, including the first international curling competition for Kosovo, Ukraine, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Mexico.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
The idea was developed by
Curling Canada
's
Warren Hansen
in 2001 to be one of four discipline variations for the inaugural
Continental Cup of Curling
.
[2]
The first
World Mixed Doubles Championship
took place in 2008.
[3]
Since its inception, Switzerland has won six of its first ten titles. Russia and Hungary have won their first world curling titles in the mixed doubles championship, and New Zealand, France, Austria, and the Czech Republic have won their first world curling medals.
In 2002, Olympic scholar
Bob Barney
advocated for mixed doubles curling to be added to the Winter Olympics. He argued that it was a sport without any "gender factor", and high television ratings; and noted that
equestrian events at the Summer Olympics
was the only Olympic sport allowing males and females to compete against each other.
[4]
The
IOC
did not approve the events for inclusion into the
2010 Winter Olympics
, but an attempt to include the mixed doubles in the following winter Olympiad succeeded, making its Olympic debut at the
2018 Winter Olympics
.
[5]
John Morris
and
Kaitlyn Lawes
won the first mixed doubles gold medal for Canada, defeating Switzerland in the final.
[6]
The
Olympic Athletes from Russia
won the bronze medal match only to have their medal stripped from them after
Alexander Krushelnitsky
failed a drug test.
[7]
Team Norway, who had finished fourth, was then awarded the bronze medal.
[8]
Rules of play
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]
In doubles curling each two-person team plays with six stones, one of which is positioned in play before the start of the
end
.
[9]
[10]
[11]
One stone is placed on the center line in the
4-foot circle
of the
house
such that the back edge of the stone is aligned with the back edge of the circle. The other positioned stone is placed on the
center line
as a
guard
in front of the house. The exact placement of this positioned guard is chosen from six possible locations and must be agreed upon by the teams before the game. The six possible locations are immediately in front of and behind three points along the center line, the midpoint between the
hog line
and the front of the house and 3 feet in front of and behind that midpoint. The teams decide on the guard location based on ice conditions, such as the amount of
curl
expected, and the same location must be used the entire game. The team that did not score in the previous end decides which team's stone is placed in the house and which team's stone is placed as a guard. The team whose positioned stone is the guard throws the first stone that end. If there was no score the previous end then the team that threw the first stone gets to decide which team's stone goes where; this means that unlike traditional team curling the team with the
hammer
does not usually get to keep it if the end is
blanked
.
The team that has the decision on the placement of the positioned stones also has the option to use their power play. Each team may use the power play only once per game and it cannot be during an
extra end
. The power play allows the positioned stones to be moved to the side of the sheet (which side is at the discretion of the team using the power play) with the back edge of the stone in the house positioned on the
tee line
where the
8-foot
and
12-foot
circles meet and the guard correspondingly moved to the side of the guard zone.
[12]
Of the five stones each team delivers during an end, one player throws the first and last stone while the other player must throw the three in between. Unlike traditional curling the throwing order may change between ends. The player that is not delivering the stone may act as a sweeper or as
skip
at the far end. The player throwing the stone often gets up after releasing the stone to sweep.
No stone, including those in the house, can be removed from play prior to the delivery of the fourth stone of an end. If there is a violation, the delivered stone is removed from play and any stones moved are returned to their original position by the non-offending team.
The game is scored the same as traditional curling, where the team with a stone in the house closest to the
button
scores one point for every stone in the house closer to the button than the closest opposing stone.
Rule changes
[
edit
]
- 2008:
[13]
Mixed doubles rules formalized by
World Curling Federation
.
- 2015:
[14]
[a]
Positioned stone in the house is moved from just behind tee line to just in front of the back edge of the 4-foot. Teams are no longer separated to opposite ends of the sheet at the start of delivery. A stone delivered out of rotation is removed from play instead of rethrown. Power play is introduced.
- 2018:
[17]
Blank due to equal measurement no longer gives up hammer/positioned stone placement decision.
Major competitions
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See also
[
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]
Notes
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Heroux, Devin (19 April 2019).
"48 teams, only 1 champion: Canada itching for elusive mixed doubles world curling title"
.
CBC
. Retrieved
1 May
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Cameron, Al.
"Warren Hansen inducted into World Curling Hall of Fame"
.
Curling Canada
. Retrieved
13 April
2019
.
- ^
Federation, World Curling.
"World Curling Federation - Dumfries, Scotland to stage 2014 World Mixed Doubles and World Senior Curling Championships"
.
World Curling Federation
. Retrieved
14 April
2019
.
- ^
Wake, Bev (27 February 2002).
"Co-ed curling 'the next logical step'
"
.
Ottawa Citizen
. Ottawa, Ontario. p. 3.
- ^
a
b
Federation, World Curling (8 June 2015).
"World Curling Federation - Mixed Doubles curling confirmed for PyeongChang 2018 Olympics"
.
World Curling Federation
. Archived from
the original
on 19 January 2018
. Retrieved
12 April
2019
.
- ^
"Canada's Lawes and Morris cruise to mixed doubles curling gold"
.
International Olympic Committee
. 5 February 2019
. Retrieved
16 April
2019
.
- ^
"Russian mixed doubles curler stripped of Olympic medal for doping | The Star"
.
thestar.com
. Retrieved
16 April
2019
.
- ^
"Norway curlers to get Russia's doubles bronze in Pyeongchang"
.
Reuters
. 23 February 2018
. Retrieved
16 April
2019
.
- ^
Federation, World Curling.
"World Curling Federation - Mixed Doubles Curling"
.
World Curling Federation
. Retrieved
23 April
2019
.
- ^
Lamoureux, Danny.
"What is Mixed Doubles Curling?"
.
Curling Canada
. Archived from
the original
on 16 August 2019
. Retrieved
12 April
2019
.
- ^
"What is mixed doubles curling?"
. Retrieved
23 April
2019
.
- ^
"Doubles Curling Rules"
.
Ontario Curling Council
. Retrieved
4 February
2020
.
- ^
"The Rules of Curling and Rules of Competition"
(PDF)
(2008 ed.).
World Curling Federation
.
(R14.h.ii) the stone is in the back of the house [...] abutting the back edge of the tee. (R14.k) While the team is in the process of delivery, the non-delivering player must be positioned inside the hog line [...] (R14.l) If a player delivers a stone out of proper rotation, that stone is returned to the hack to be delivered by the correct player [...]
- ^
"The Rules of Curling and Rules of Competition"
(2015 ed.).
World Curling Federation
.
(R15.f.ii) The back edge of the stone is aligned with the back edge of the 4-foot circle. (R15.i) While the team is in the process of delivery, the non-delivering player may be anywhere on the ice surface of the team's sheet. (R15.j) If a delivery violation occurs, the delivered stone shall be removed from play [...] (R15.f.iii) Power Play.
- ^
"Mixed Doubles rules to be trialled at Winter Games NZ"
. World Curling Federation. 21 August 2015. Archived from
the original
on 14 September 2015.
- ^
"Canadian teams testing new mixed doubles rules in New Zealand"
. Curling Canada. 21 August 2015.
a testing ground for some dramatic rule-change proposals
- ^
"The Rules of Curling and Rules of Competition"
(2018 ed.).
World Curling Federation
.
(R15.g.iii) In the case of a blanked end due to an equal measure, the team that had the decision on the placement of the "positioned" stones shall not change for the next end
- ^
"Champions"
.
Team USA
. Archived from
the original
on 2 December 2018
. Retrieved
15 April
2019
.
- ^
reports, Pioneer staff (15 March 2017).
"Haskells win U.S. Mixed Doubles"
.
www.bemidjipioneer.com
. Retrieved
15 April
2019
.
- ^
Canada, Curling.
"CCA announces creation of Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials"
.
Curling Canada
. Retrieved
15 April
2019
.
- ^
"Canadian mixed doubles curling trials to determine world representative"
.
CBC
. 1 October 2012
. Retrieved
15 April
2019
.
- ^
"Championships by type"
.
results.worldcurling.org
. Retrieved
15 April
2019
.
External links
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]