| Continental Cup of Curling | |
|---|---|
| Established | 2002 |
| Current holder(s) | North America |
The Continental Cup of Curling is a curling tournament held annually between teams from North America against teams from the rest of the world. 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 near the beginning of the curling season and is not held in the same season as the Olympics.
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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 Team World 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.
The first event is the mixed doubles event, a eight-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). By tradition, each men's rink is paired with a women's rink to make two teams for this event, with each mixed team being given as the names of the two throwers. Prior to 2007, all 24 players on each side must play in either a sweeping or throwing role — starting in 2007, sweepers were eliminated to create a true "doubles" game, and any sweeping is to be done by either the thrower or the skip.
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. The assignment of which stones to throw by which player may be freely changed between ends, and is simply determined by who throws the first stone. Each team is given 48 minutes on the game clock, and (as an extension of the free-guard zone rule) stones may not be removed from play until the third stone in each end is thrown (effectively creating a "five-rock rule").
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 (a draw to the button determine which team will have the option 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.
In the Continental Cup, mixed doubles games are played during the same days of competition as the team games, making up the afternoon draw. To determine the mixed doubles matchups, one captain will name a team while the other captain responds with the team that will oppose them. The right to name second alternates between the two captains through the six matchups.
The rules from this event (with the 2007 revision) was later adopted as a separate curling discipline, with the inauguration of the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in 2008.
| 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 |
| 2008 | World | 27-9 |
| 2011 | North America | 30-6 |
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 four 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. By convention, each of the matches pit teams against each other: prior to 2007, one team member was to throw all six shots, while the non-throwers must sweep or skip for the thrower. Starting in 2007, each member of the team must make at least one shot, and no member may make more than two, to involve all 24 players in throwing stones.
Each singles match is determined based on a points system (with 0 for missing the shot entirely, 1 if the shot remains in play but outside the house, and higher points based on where the shooter eventually lands, up to a maximum of 5 points if the shooter reaches the button), with the thrower with the higher score winning the event. Three of the shots must be in-turns, while the other three must be out-turns, with the shots are set up according to their chosen type of turn. The six shots are as follows:
The singles event takes place on one day in the competition, during the afternoon draw between skins games.
To determine the singles matchups, one team captain must choose one rink while the other captain choose the rink opposing them. One captain will choose first for the first women's matchup and the second men's matchup, while the other captain chooses first for the first men's matchup and the second women's matchup. All women's games are completed before the men's games, and all shots of one type must be completed before the next shot is done. The team throwing first in one shot (which will be the same team in all three matches) will throw second in the next shot (the right to make the first shot in the runthrough alternates between the two teams every year).
| 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 | Team Glenn Howard (26pts) | Team Jennifer Jones (26pts) |
| 2008 | World | 22-10 | Team Wang Fengchun (20pts) | Team Wang Bingyu (18pts) |
| 2011 | North America | 22-10 | Team Kevin Martin (27pts) | Team Jennifer Jones (16pts) Team Mirjam Ott (tie) |
The team portion of the Continental Cup is highlighted by 12 eight-end curling games (each team plays twice), with six points awarded to the winner of each game (three for each team if the game remains tied through eight ends). In the team portion, each team captain will name a rink to play on each of the three sheets of ice, with the other captain being able to choose which of their rinks will play against them. The team games are played over two days of competition (with the women's team matches making up the morning draw and the men's matches making up the evening draw) — the team that did not select first on the first day will select first on the second day.
| 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 |
| 2008 | World | 45-27 |
| 2011 | North America | 60-12 |
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. 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 (note that in the skins competitions, blank ends will turn the hammer over to the opposing team). If after eight ends there remains points to be claimed, a draw to the button determines which team will get the accumulated points. If either team runs out of time on the game clock (each side will be given 64 minutes), the other team will win the remainder of points in the match.
The points for the event are distributed as follows:
| Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 points (2007-present) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 30 points (2002-2006) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 |
| 30 points (2007-present) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 9 |
| 40 points (2002-2006) | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 10 |
| 55 points (2007-present) | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 |
| 60 points (2002-2006) | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 13 |
Until 2007, there were six skins games, three men's and three women's, with the games worth 30, 40, and 60 points — typically referred to as the "A", "B", and "C" games. Starting 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. As with before, there are three men's skins games and three women's skins games, with the remaining "A" and "B" game featuring mixed teams. The teams playing in the featured game must contribute two players (one male and one female) to both mixed skins games, while the teams playing in the "A" skins game must contribute two players (one male and one female) to the "B" mixed skins game and vice-versa. As with the team portion of the event, one captain will name a rink for each game, with the opposing captain naming the rink that will oppose them. By tradition, one captain must choose first for the women's and mixed "A" games, the men's "B" game, and the women's feature game, while the other captain must choose first for the remainder of the games. A draw to the button determines which team will have the hammer in the first end. The matchups are not determined until the second day of competition.
The featured skins game is played on the last day of competition, while the others are played on the same day as the singles events. With the exception of 2003 (when the men's feature game was only played to seven ends with 13 points on the line in the eighth), all skins games are played to their conclusion, even if the Continental Cup has been clinched by one side partway through, or before all matches have been played (as was the case in 2007, when North America had clinched the Continental Cup before either of the feature skins game were played).
| 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 |
| 2008 | North America | 150-110 | Kevin Martin 40-15 Thomas Ulsrud | Anette Norberg 41-14 Jennifer Jones |
| 2011 | North America | 186-64 | Kevin Martin 39-16 Thomas Ulsrud | Cheryl Bernard 42-13 Wang Bingyu |
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