Continental Cup of Curling
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The Continental Cup of Curling is a curling tournament held annually between teams from North America against teams from Europe. Each side is represented by six teams (three women's teams and three men's teams), and compete using a unique points system. The tournament is modeled after golf's Ryder Cup. The event is held at the beginning of the curling season and is not held in the same season as the Olympics.
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[edit] Playing Format
Each side is represented by six teams - for the North Americans, four (two of each gender) are determined by the Canadian Curling Association based on recent participation at either the Canada Cup of Curling, the World Curling Championship, or the Olympic Winter Games. The other two North American teams are determined by the United States Curling Association. The World Curling Federation determines the six rinks representing Europe for the event.
There are four main competitions for the event, and for either side to claim the Continental Cup, 201 points must be attained from these competitions.
[edit] Mixed Doubles
The first event is the mixed doubles event, a six-end game with two rocks in play at the start of each end (one for each team). Each team consists of two sweepers and two throwers, of which one man and one woman is to play each position. There are six mixed doubles matches, with six points given for a win in each match (or three points for both teams in the event of a tie after six ends). All 24 players on each side must play in either a sweeping or a throwing role.
At the start of each end, two rocks, one for each team, starts in play - one inside the house and the other guarding. Five rocks are played per team, with scoring performed as normal. One thrower must throw the first and last stones of each end, while the other thrower must throw the three in between.
There is an additional concept, known as the option, given to one of the teams. The option is given to the team which did not score in the previous end (or randomly determined in the first end), and switches teams in the event of a blank end. The team with the option has the option to select which of the two rocks in play is theirs, with the hammer going to the team with the rock in the house.
| Year | Mixed doubles winner | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Europe | 24-12 |
| 2003 | North America | 24-12 |
| 2004 | North America | 21-15 |
| 2006 | North America | 24-12 |
| 2007 | North America | 27-9 |
[edit] Singles
The singles competition is akin to the skills competitions found in ice hockey. There are six singles matches (three women's and three men's), with two points given to the winner of each match. Eight bonus points are also awarded to the team with the better aggregate score for the singles events. Although only twelve players throw stones in singles play, all of the players must participate in some capacity, the non-throwers being given sweeping or skipping duties. By convention, the twelve throwers consist of one member from each team in the tournament, with the remainder of the players sweeping or skipping for their teammate.
Each singles match is determined based on a points system, with the thrower with the higher score winning the event. Up to five points can be scored in each of six different shots:
- the hit-and-stay
- the draw to the button
- the draw through a port
- the raise
- the hit-and-roll
- the double takeout
| Year | Team winner | Points | Top male | Top female |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Europe | 24-8 |  Kevin Martin (27pts) |
 Katarina Nyberg (24pts) |
| 2003 | Europe | 20-12 | Magnus Swartling (22pts) |
 Marianne Haslum (15pts) |
| 2004 | North America | 28-4 | Randy Ferbey (21pts) |
 Patti Lank (20pts) |
| 2006 | Europe | 18-14 | Flemming Davanger (22pts) Markku Uusipaavalniemi (tie) |
Kelly Scott (22pts) |
| 2007 | North America | 28-4 | Glenn Howard (26pts) |
Jennifer Jones (26pts) |
[edit] Teams
The team portion of the Continental Cup is highlighted by twelve regular curling games (with each rink playing twice), with six points awarded to the winner (three for each team if the game remains tied through eight ends).
| Year | Team winner | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | North America | 48-24 |
| 2003 | Europe | 42-30 |
| 2004 | North America | 45-27 |
| 2006 | Tie | 36-36 |
| 2007 | Tie | 36-36 |
[edit] Skins
The final event, and the event worth the most amount of points, is the skins portion. Up to 260 points can be claimed in this event, meaning that neither team can clinch the Continental Cup until the skins games are played.
Until 2007, there were six skins games, three men's and three women's, with the three games worth 30, 40, and 60 points. The points are distributed in an uneven manner through each of the eight ends. In order for a team to claim a skin (and the accumulated points), the team must either score at least two points with the hammer or force a steal without. If after eight ends there remains points to be claimed, a draw to the button determines which team will get the accumulated points.
In 2007, eight skins games would be played. Three are worth 20 points, three are worth 30 points and the remaining two are worth 55 points. One 20 and one 30 point game feature mixed teams.
| Year | Skins winner | Points | Men's feature game | Women's feature point game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | North America | 139-121 | Kevin Martin 43-17 Peja Lindholm |
Colleen Jones 41-19 Elisabet Gustafson |
| 2003 | Europe | 134-113 | Randy Ferbey 30-17 Peja Lindholm |
Anette Norberg 60-0 Sherry Middaugh |
| 2004 | North America | 134-126 | Randy Ferbey 47-13 Peja Lindholm |
Anette Norberg 41-19 Colleen Jones |
| 2006 | Europe | 163-97 | Brad Gushue 43-17  David Murdoch |
Anette Norberg 32-28 Shannon Kleibrink |
| 2007 | North America | 199-61 | Glenn Howard 47-8 David Murdoch |
Kelly Scott 33-22 Kelly Wood |
[edit] List of Continental Cups
[edit] Similar events in other sports
- Ryder Cup — Men's golf
- Solheim Cup — Women's golf
- Mosconi Cup — Nine-ball pool
- Weber Cup — Ten-pin bowling
- IAAF World Cup — Athletics
- NFL Global Junior Championship — American Football, includes a Team Europe
[edit] External links
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