WORLD MIXED DOUBLES CURLING CHAMPIONSHIP 2010 – FROM THE PLAYERS:

Wednesday 21 April

Petr Dron, Team Russia (playing with Yana Nekrasova):
Speaking after their game against Slovakia which they won 10-6:
“I don’t have a good impression about this game because we started well. We had six points by the end of the fourth end and were well ahead. But then we make a series of mistakes. We gave up four points in the seventh end so by the eighth we were only ahead by one point. We should not make this kind of mistake.”

Milan Kajan, Team Slovakia (playing with Gabriela Kajanova):
Speaking after the game against Russia:
“The Russians have an advantage because they’re playing at home. They have more support. But because they are playing at home they need to play well! This game is about taking advantage of the situationake advantage of when your opponent makes a mistake and the Russian’s took advantage when we made a mistake. I believe Russia are now on target to win a medal in this championship. I know how good they are because we played against them in Hungary about a month ago. We were tied in that game and ended up losing in an extra end. Here in Chelyabinsk, they have yet to lose a game. They should go to the quarterfinals.”

Hugh Millikin, Team Australia (playing the Mixed Doubles Championship with Kim Forge and the Men’s Seniors)
Speaking after their mixed doubles game against Slovakia which they won 7-2:
“The problem is that our pool has seven teams in it – so I actually don’t have any idea where we are in the standings! I think we have to beat Russia tomorrow. It’s nice to see all these games going on here. It looks like everyone is playing really well. It’s great ice.”

Hugh describes how he is managing to juggle playing in both competitions:
“I have my moments of being a bit tired. The mixed doubles has a lot of sweeping in it. Fortunately, I’m skipping the men’s team so I don’t have to sweep as much. But we’ve been very lucky in some ways that we haven’t had too many conflicts. So if we make the playoffs in both, I think I will be a very tired boy!”

Marcus Schmitt, Team Austria (playing with Liliana Schmitt)
Speaking after their last game of the round robin against the Czech Republic which they lost 4-9. The Austrians finish with one win and three losses:
“We started quite well [in this game] and this was the first game where I really had the feeling that ‘we can do it’ if we really made all our shots. But in the end it didn’t work out but still it was a lot of fun. Against Denmark yesterday we really had a lot of fun, so I think that we consumed all the luck that was dedicated for us at this world championship.”

“It was a real great experience to be here. We still enjoyed it a lot. Competing with other countries is great. The ice is great. The organisation and hospitality of people here is great. We will try very hard to qualify again to come to the next worlds.”

WORLD SENIOR CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010 – FROM THE PLAYERS:

Wednesday 21 April

Paul Pustovar, Team USA (Men) – Skip:
Speaking after beating England 8-2 – the third straight win for the USA Men’s senior team. They have no losses so far:
“We have two tough games left yet [against Australia and Japan], so we have to win the last two. This game started off a little shaky. The ice was a little bit different and we didn’t play real well for the first two ends, so we had to step it up a notch after that.”

About the event and his curling career:
“I’ve been to eight world championships and the opening ceremonies were the best I’ve ever seen. I’ve been to two seniors and I’ve played at five regular World Men’s Championships and I was a coach at one in 2007. So I’ve been playing a long time, my first World Championship was in 1977. I have not missed a year of curling since age 17.”

Hirashi Urashima, Team Japan (Men) – Alternate:
Speaking after beating Russia 7-5/:
“I don’t know whether we would call it a good win or not. We’ve barely made it. Each game has been so hard. This is the second time we’ve participated in this championship. In comparison to last year, I think that we are much better now, but other teams are better too! It’s always hard to win.”

About the game the last game the will play in the round robin against the USA on Thursday:
“The USA is a very tough team. I don’t know whether we will make it or not but we will try our best.”

About the event in Chelyabinsk:
“This is a world class event. I don’t think any city could beat this – it is so spectacular.”

Wendy Becker, Team New Zealand (Women) – Skip:
Speaking after their first win of the championship against Italy (7-6):
“It’s always nice to have a win, but the Italian ladies were such a good team to play against.”

About the event:
“Very friendly, the Russians have put so much effort in this event. I wish them luck with the Olympics.”

Betty Kozai, Team USA (Women) – Lead:
Speaking after their win against Japan (6-4) – a game that went into an extra end:
“We needed to win in order to try to get into the top four. So it was a very important game. We have another one tonight against Canada, that’ll be fun!”

Betty was born in Hawaii but her parents were Japanese, she explains what it was like playing against the Japanese women’s senior team:
“I don’t think anything about it. When I go out on the ice I’m there to do my best and make all my shots. I’m glad to see that the Japanese team is coming along because they haven’t been curling that long – so it’s great to see the ‘little’ women being able to throw the rocks and make their shots!”

Sharon Vukich, Team USA (Women and Mixed Doubles):
Sharon – who celebrates her 53 birthday today - was on the ice in the morning with her mixed doubles partner Mike Calcagno for their game against China. When that game was over, she was brought on in the fifth end of the USA Women’s Seniors game against Japan. She explains how she manages to play the two games:
“It’s not hard, it’s so much fun, it’s really easy to go back and forth. In the mixed doubles you need that really good draw weight into the button a lot, so it actually helps your ‘traditional’ curling game. You get all that practise with the weight. The thinking isn’t all that different. There’s a tiny bit more thinking on the angles and the rock placement in the Mixed Doubles.”