WORLD MIXED DOUBLES CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP 2010 – FROM THE PLAYERS:

NOTE: CANADA, KOREA, NORWAY, SCOTLAND and SWEDEN – officially withdrawn from the World Mixed Doubles event. All remaining competing teams are in Chelyabinsk.

Monday 19 April

Mike Calcagno, Team USA (playing with Sharon Vukich)
Speaking after the USA’s first game at the Championships against Slovakia which they won 12-2:
“The morning I was scheduled to leave I got a note on my Facebook page of all places saying ‘hey have you been affected by the volcanic ash?’ I hadn’t heard anything about it. I was at the airport and had been since six o’clock in the morning so I had no idea. So I was like ‘what ash?’. But sure enough we flew to Houston and my flight had been cancelled.”

Calcagno eventually managed to get on a flight via Los Angeles but then was unable to get on the plane to Russia:
“I was thinking that was it, I was saying to myself - ‘I’ll qualify again next year, Sharon’s a really good partner, she’ll probably agree to play with me again next year...’ - but then two heroic supervisors from Singapore Airlines went over to the Aeroflot desk and used every charm they could to get us on that plane, including mentioning the World Curling Championships and we got the last seats on that plane out of Los Angeles.”

“Fortunately I got a lot of sleep on the plane, I took a shower and had some breakfast, came to the arena and checked out the facility and went out onto the ice! So it was straight off the plane, no practice ice and I threw it right on the lid for my draw shot challenge!”

Sharon Vukich, Team USA (playing with Mike Calcagno)
On Mike’s early morning arrival in Chelyabinsk:
“It’s so fantastic, it’s like a miracle, I’m so glad that he’s here and we’re so grateful to everybody that helped get Mike here.”

Sergio Vez, Team Spain (playing with Irantzu Garcia)
On Spain winning their second game in a row – 9-1 against England:
“We feel good after winning two matches. Two years ago when we played, we won just one out of seven. So it’s a good beginning of the competition we hope that we’ll keep on winning. We’re playing really really good. It’s been a surprise for everybody in Spain that we have won two matches, so we hope we can keep on going to the quarterfinals.”

Toni Muller, Team Switzerland (playing with Irene Schori - 2008 and 2009 Mixed Doubles World Champions):

Speaking after his first game of the 2010 Championships against Austria which Switzerland won 9-1.
“So far it’s really good, I think the opening ceremony was really amazing. That’s what we can expect from Russia. It was really impressive. The ice is perfect. It’s been our first game and it’s our first win and that’s good for us.”

About the Ural Lightning Ice Palace:
“it’s unbelievably big there are 14 rinks and there is space for 10 more it’s impressive.”

Peter Landgren and Lotta Norri, Team Finland

Arrived in Chelyabinsk on Sunday evening after a 27 hour trip from Helsinki. They speak about their travel ordeal:

Lotta: “we got to the airport and we heard that our flight was cancelled. The last plane leaving Helsinki left 10 minutes before ours, so there was nothing else we could do, except to go back home.”

Peter: “on Friday morning we tried to get the train to St Petersburg or Moscow but all the trains were fully booked. But then we were able to get a train to Moscow on Saturday evening and flights from Moscow to Yekaterinburg on Sunday afternoon and it worked!!”

Lotta: “we didn’t think we were going to make it. When we left home for the Moscow train which lasts 13 hours, we didn’t know if the airports were open in Moscow.”

Peter: “we decided if we didn’t make it here we would spend a holiday in Moscow. We were lucky because we got the earlier flight from Moscow so we arrived here 4 hours earlier!”

Lotta: “when we were picked up in Yekaterinburg we came here to practise straight away at nine o’clock in the evening.”

Peter: “we haven’t been in any world championships before and this might be the only chance to represent our country.”

Lotta: “it was quite surprising that we won the Finnish championships in Mixed Doubles – there were 16 teams and we were the underdog.”

WORLD SENIOR CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP 2010 – FROM THE PLAYERS:

NOTE: Teams from WALES, NETHERLANDS, SCOTLAND and ESTONIA have officially withdrawn from Men’s Seniors. SCOTLAND has officially withdrawn from Women’s Seniors. All remaining competing teams are now in Chelyabinsk.

Monday 19 April

Colleen Pinkney, Team Canada (Women) - Skip
Speaking after their game against Switzerland which they won 9-6:
“It felt like a struggle throughout the entire game. The Swiss played very very well. We were really working on trying to throw nice consistent hit weight. The ice is fast and fabulous but really sensitive and seems to be changing a little bit each time we are out there.”

“We finished strong. We’re the type of team who never give up and we never get down on one another and we have a lot of fun.”

About being in Russia and playing the championships:
“This is a thrill of a lifetime for us, it’s our first time at a world event. It’s my first time skipping certainly at a world event. We are being treated like royalty, the committee, the volunteers, the interpreters – everybody is just making this stay incredible and it’s going by way too fast!”

Renate Nedkoff, Team Switzerland (Women) - Skip
Speaking after their game against Canada:
“It was a very good game, a very tough game, in the eighth end we missed two takeouts – something we didn’t do in any of the ends before...so maybe it was a little bit to do with the nerves of the players.”

Bruce Delaney, Team Canada (Men) – Skip
Speaking after their game against New Zealand which they won 10-2
“The team played well, no complaints about the ice, lots of curl, the ice is quick. We got lucky a couple of times, but it was a good battle right to the end. There were one or two shots that could have turned around a couple of the ends. We had to play our ‘A’ Game.”

“Being at my first worlds marvels anything I’ve known. I’ve been to three nationals back in Canada. They’ve done a super job here – the facility, the people – all willing to help. Hats off to the Russian Organising committee they’ve done a super job.”

“Before coming over here it would hit me from time to time and I would say ‘man – our team is representing Canada at the worlds!’ Who would have thought 10 to15 years ago in my curling career that not only would we get out of the province of Ontario but also win the nationals beating Russ Howard to get here to the worlds. It’s phenomenal.”

Peter Becker, Team New Zealand (Men) – Skip
After their game against Canada:
“We were playing reasonably well, but we fell away towards the end and we didn’t play well at all. If we played as well as we did this morning we would’ve given them a decent game. The whole four of us didn’t quite measure up in the way we were throwing, calling, everything!”

His impressions of this event in Chelyabinsk, Russia:
“Overall the tournament is good. The curling is good. We know a lot of these people because we’ve played against them over the years. The friendship and the fellowship is what it is all about.”

“I’ve never been to an opening ceremony like that. I was at the Olympics in Torino and that could be expected to be magnificent, but for a World Senior or Mixed Doubles Championships – what we saw was just unbelievable.”