Mixed Doubles Day 2 - What the players have to say
St Paul, USA
April 18, 2011
Louise Soutar, Team Scotland - Photo: World Curling Federaton/Leslie Ingram-Brown
Anders Kraupp, Team Sweden, playing with his daughter Sabina, after winning their morning game 10-2 against Korea. Anders, a long time alternate on Peja Lindholm’s team, also competed at the Olympic Winter Games in Turin in 2006: “It’s quite a new experience for me, but it’s absolutely fantastic because I am playing with my daughter and she is a tremendous player. What’s nice with this game is the hierarchy has gone, either you play the first and the last stones or the middle ones and it equalises the team. I don’t like that in traditional curling there is a skip who’s a big star and then the lead gets no recognition for example. I prefer this game – sharing the responsibility.”
Kenji Tomabechi, Team Japan, after their 8-3 win over New Zealand. Kenji competed at the 2008 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Vierumäki in Finland. His teammate at the time was Michiko who has since become his wife: “we are getting our draw weight right but we can do better. I preferred the ice in Vierumäki because it was more swingy.”
Mickiko Tomabechi, Team Japan: “I like the action that is involved in Mixed Doubles curling. Each player has to think about the positioning of your stones and your tactics. When you play with your husband, you have to be careful not to argue too much!”
Rebecca Jean MacDonald, Team Canada, after their game against England which they won 7-6: “We didn’t play very well the first few ends. We didn’t get our stones set up. But then in the latter part of the game we made a few more shots. Each end is just a new game and that how you have to play it. This is our first time ever playing mixed doubles [in Canada the mixed doubles team is drawn from the traditional 4-person mixed Teams]. This is the real thing. I am really enjoying it and I think it’s got potential to go somewhere. You just need to get in to the method and the format but it’s a lot of fun out there.”
Pauline Jeanneret, Team France, on their performance on Monday after beating China 8-3: “Things were much better today, we controlled the weight of our shots better and had a better game. We knew that with this control we could win the points we needed. It’s our first season playing Mixed Doubles. It’s a completely different game from traditional curling. I think it requires a great deal of complicity with your playing partner in order to come through and make the points.”
