The 2021

World Men's Curling Championship The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and mixed doubles championships, as well as men's ...

(branded as the 2021 BKT Tires & OK Tire World Men's Curling Championship for sponsorship reasons) was held from April 2 to 11 at the Markin MacPhail Centre at

Canada Olympic Park Canada Olympic Park (COP), formerly known as Paskapoo Ski Hill, is a ski hill and multi-purpose training and competition facility located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, owned and operated by WinSport. It is currently used both for high performance at ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The event was originally to be held in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, but due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the championship was moved to Calgary. The event was held in a

bio-secure bubble A bio-secure bubble, also known as a bubble, or hub city, was a hosting arrangement for sporting events that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, under which events were held at a centralized site, often behind closed doors, with strict quarant ...

at Canada Olympic Park, which also hosted all major

Curling Canada Curling Canada (formerly the Canadian Curling Association (CCA)) is a sanctioning body for the sport of Curling in Canada. It is associated with more than a dozen provincial and territorial curling associations across the country, and organizes ...

championships leading up to the Worlds (including the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier, which determined Canada's entrant). All events were held behind closed doors with no spectators. The 2021 championship fielded the largest number of teams in the history of the event, with fourteen total.

Niklas Edin Johan Niklas Edin (born 6 July 1985) is a Swedish curler. He currently resides in Karlstad, which has been his curling home base since 2008. He holds several sport distinctions. He is the first and the only skip in World Curling Federation (WCF ...

, skip of Team Sweden, and his third,

Oskar Eriksson Oskar Ingemar Eriksson (born 29 May 1991) is a Swedish curler from Karlstad. He currently plays third for the Niklas Edin rink. He is the first curler in history to win four Olympic medals – gold, silver, and two bronze – and the first to ...

, won a record fifth career World Championship. The team, which also consisted of

Rasmus Wranå Rasmus Bele Åke Wranå (born 15 November 1994) is a Swedish curler from Karlstad. He currently plays second for the Swedish national team, skipped by Niklas Edin. With his teammates Edin, Oskar Eriksson, and Christoffer Sundgren, Wranå becam ...

and

Christoffer Sundgren Kjell Tommy Christoffer Sundgren (born 31 July 1989) is a Swedish curler. He currently plays lead for the Swedish national team, skipped by Niklas Edin. The World Curling Federation's historical records rank Sundgren as one of the most successfu ...

, won a record third straight championship. They defeated Team Scotland, skipped by

Bruce Mouat Bruce Mouat (; born 27 August 1994 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish curler. He is an Olympic silver medallist, having skipped Great Britain to a second place finish in the men's team event at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Career Mouat had a very su ...

in the final, 10–5. With the game tied at 5 in the ninth end, Edin made a double take out with the last rock of the end to score five. Down by 5 with just one end to go, Team Scotland then conceded the game. Switzerland, skipped by

Peter de Cruz Peter Vincent de Cruz (born 4 January 1990) is a Swiss curler. He is an Olympic bronze medallist for Switzerland, having skipped his Swiss rink to a third place finish at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. While de Cruz is the skip of his ...

, won the bronze medal. The championship served as one of two qualification events for

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

in Beijing. The

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

s representing the top six finishers at the tournament qualified directly to the Olympic tournament. In order of ranking, this included

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, the ROC, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and

. The remaining teams that had qualified for the 2020 or 2021 World Championships competed in the

World Curling Federation The World Curling Federation (WCF) is the world governing body for curling accreditation, with offices in Perth, Scotland. It was formed out of the International Curling Federation (ICF), when the push for Olympic Winter Sport status was made. ...

's Olympic Qualification Event in December 2021 for the remaining three spots.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

On April 9, the World Curling Federation announced that a positive

COVID-19 test COVID-19 testing involves analyzing samples to assess the current or past presence of SARS-CoV-2. The two main types of tests detect either the presence of the virus or antibodies produced in response to infection. Molecular tests for viral p ...

had been recorded by a player on a non-playoff team, and that the second qualification match between the United States and Switzerland would be therefore be postponed. The World Curling Federation postponed all games scheduled for April 10 due to additional positive tests involving a member of a playoff team. There were three initial positives from players on non-playoff teams who were tested as part of the exit protocols, and four close contacts were also identified. On April 11, following approval by

Alberta Health Services Alberta Health Services (AHS) which is headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta is the single health authority for the Canadian province of Alberta and the "largest integrated provincial health care system" in Canada. AHS delivers medical care on beh ...

(AHS), the World Curling Federation announced that play would resume, with all remaining games being played throughout the day. One playoff team member who had been fully

vaccinated A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified.< ...

initially tested positive, but later tested negative and was cleared to participate in the playoffs. Enhanced biosecurity protocols were mandated for the remainder of the tournament, including additional tests before and after each game, and requiring masks to be worn on-ice. Canadian broadcaster TSN pulled its camera crew for the U.S./Switzerland match, and announced that the game would not be televised due to unspecified "COVID-19 issues"; the game was still broadcast via the WCF host feed. On April 12, all four tests were deemed

false positive A false positive is an error in binary classification in which a test result incorrectly indicates the presence of a condition (such as a disease when the disease is not present), while a false negative is the opposite error, where the test result ...

s following an extensive review by health authorities. Team USA third

Christopher Plys Christopher Plys (; born August 13, 1987) is an American curler from Duluth, Minnesota. He is a Junior World Champion and two-time National Men's Champion. He was the alternate for the United States men's team at the 2010 Winter Olympics and a ...

announced on Twitter that he was the playoff-bound curler who had tested positive.

Qualification

The following nations qualified to participate in the 2021 World Men's Curling Championship: Pursuant to a December 2020 ruling by the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its co ...

, Russia is prohibited from competing under its flag or any national symbols at any Olympic Games or world championships through December 16, 2022, and must compete neutrally. The World Curling Federation listed the Russian team as the abbreviation "RCF", for the Russian Curling Federation.

World Ranking

The World Curling Federation World Ranking tracks and lists the success of all Member Associations.

Teams

The teams are as follows:

WCF ranking

Year to date

order of merit ranking for each team prior to the event. Rankings based on the 2019–20 season.

Round robin standings

''Final Round Robin Standings''

Round robin results

All times listed in

Mountain Daylight Time The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time ( UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time ( UTC−06:00). The clo ...

( UTC−06:00).

Draw 1

''Friday, April 2, 9:00 am''

Draw 2

''Friday, April 2, 2:00 pm''

Draw 3

''Friday, April 2, 7:00 pm''

Draw 4

''Saturday, April 3, 9:00 am''

Draw 5

''Saturday, April 3, 2:00 pm''

Draw 6

''Saturday, April 3, 7:00 pm''

Draw 7

''Sunday, April 4, 9:00 am''

Draw 8

''Sunday, April 4, 2:00 pm''

Draw 9

''Sunday, April 4, 7:00 pm''

Draw 10

''Monday, April 5, 9:00 am''

Draw 11

''Monday, April 5, 2:00 pm''

Draw 12

''Monday, April 5, 7:00 pm''

Draw 13

''Tuesday, April 6, 9:00 am''

Draw 14

''Tuesday, April 6, 2:00 pm''

Draw 15

''Tuesday, April 6, 7:00 pm''

Draw 16

''Wednesday, April 7, 9:00 am''

Draw 17

''Wednesday, April 7, 2:00 pm''

Draw 18

''Wednesday, April 7, 7:00 pm''

Draw 19

''Thursday, April 8, 9:00 am''

Draw 20

''Thursday, April 8, 2:00 pm''

Draw 21

''Thursday, April 8, 7:00 pm''

Draw 22

''Friday, April 9, 9:00 am''

Draw 23

''Friday, April 9, 2:00 pm''

Playoffs

Qualification Game 1

''Friday, April 9, 7:00 pm''

Qualification Game 2

''Sunday, April 11, 11:00 am''

Semifinals

''Sunday, April 11, 4:00 pm''

Bronze medal game

''Sunday, April 11, 9:00 pm''

Final

''Sunday, April 11, 9:00 pm''

Statistics

Top 5 player percentages

''Final round robin percentages''

Perfect games

''Minimum 10 shots thrown''

Awards

The awards were as follows:

Collie Campbell Memorial Award The Collie Campbell Memorial Award was created in honour of Canadian Collie Campbell, who served as president of the International Curling Federation The World Curling Federation (WCF) is the world governing body for curling accreditation, wit ...

, Sweden

Notes

References

{{World championships in 2021 World Men's Curling Championship

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Curling competitions in Calgary 2021 in Alberta

World Curling Championship The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and mixed doubles championships, as well as men's an ...