More on the Pacific Curling Championships

I was asked how exactly the teams for the world championships will be decided at the Pacific Championships which are in progress this week in Beijing. The Men (six teams) are playing a single round-robin and at the end of the round robin series the teams will be ranked. The top ranked four move forward to 'semifinals'. The team ranked 1st will play a 'best-of-three' series of games against the team ranked 4th, and the team ranked 2nd will play a 'best-of-three' series of games against the team ranked 3rd. The winners of the Men’s semifinal series will play in a gold medal decider, but both teams qualify their associations for the 2008 World Men’s Curling Championship.

The Women (five teams) are playing a double round-robin and at the end of these games will be ranked. The team ranked 1st will receive the Gold medal and qualify their Association for the 2008 World Women’s Curling Championship. The teams ranked 2nd and 3rd will play in a silver/bronze medal game, and the silver medal winner will also qualify their association for the 2008 World Women’s Curling Championship.

Follow the results here.

What's it like in Beijing? These photos are courtesy of Keith Wendorf, and give a flavour of the event. That's the Chinese team above.