Canada’s national curling teams produced another season of international success during the 2014-15 season, resulting in our country topping three of the World Curling Federation’s four ranking lists for the second straight year, it was announced today.
A year ago, Canada became the first country ever to lead the season-ending rankings in men’s, women’s and wheelchair curling, and nothing changed this season as those No. 1 rankings remained intact.
Ranking points are earned for placements at the Pacific-Asia, European and World Championships and also at the Olympic Winter Games.
Points are calculated on a percentage-scaled basis for placement at events dating back as far as six curling seasons.
Jennifer Jones’s team claimed silver at the ZEN-NOH World Women’s Championship in March in Sapporo, Japan, to maintain our top ranking. Switzerland, which won gold, moved into second place in the rankings while Sweden dropped to third.
A bronze medal from the Pat Simmons team at the Ford World Men’s Championship in Halifax in April maintained our top ranking, with world champion Sweden remaining in second, while Norway — silver-medallists in Halifax — moved past Scotland into third place.
Meanwhile, despite a sixth-place finish at the World Wheelchair Championship in Lohja, Finland, Canada’s string of international successes over the past few seasons kept us at No. 1 in the wheelchair world rankings. 2015 world champion Russia remained in second while silver-medallists China moved into third position, leapfrogging the Scots.
Adding to the good rankings news was the significant push forward by Canada in the mixed doubles discipline. Thanks to a fourth-place finish by Charley Thomas and Kalynn Park at the World Mixed Doubles Championship in Sochi, Russia, last month, Canada moved up five spots in the world rankings to sit sixth. That five-place improvement — matched by Norway, also in mixed doubles — was the the biggest move ahead in any of the disciplines by any country this season.
“When we finished last season ranked No. 1 in the world, we were absolutely ecstatic because it showed that we continue to be on the right path when it comes to performing in pressure situations in international events,” said Greg Stremlaw, Chief Executive Officer of Curling Canada. “We also knew that we would have a target on our back this season, and it’s a testament to the amazing work being put in, not only by our world-class athletes on the ice, but by the support staff working behind the scenes, both with our athletes and on our events, that we remained on top of the rankings.”
Not taken into account in the rankings were Canada’s successes at the World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia — a gold-medal sweep for the men skipped by Braden Calvert and the women skipped by Kelsey Rocque — and the World Senior Championships in Sochi — gold for Lois Fowler’s women’s team and silver for Alan O’Leary’s men’s team — along with a silver medal for Breanne Meakin’s women’s team at the Winter Universiade in Granada, Spain.
For the full list of rankings, go to: www.worldcurling.org/wcf-world-rankings
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