The Sundre Curling Club welcomed to its recent annual open spiel some unique visitors who travelled thousands of kilometres to practise as much as possible ahead of a national competition in their home country.
The Sundre Curling Club welcomed to its recent annual open spiel some unique visitors who travelled thousands of kilometres to practise as much as possible ahead of a national competition in their home country.
In search of great rinks, ice and bonspiels to help them hone their skills, a Korean team found in Alberta precisely what it was looking for.
The rink consisted of skip Minho Kim, lead Byungjin Joung, second Donghyung Lee, third Joungjae Lee, substitute Hakkyun Kim and their coach Jae-bong Yang, who spoke with the Round Up on Saturday, April 2 at the Sundre Curling Club through interpretational assistance from local business owner Kevin Jung and his son Edwin, a Calgary resident.
The Korean curlers had arrived in Edmonton on March 11, where they competed in a bonspiel at the Ellerslie Curling Club. The next stop before making their way to the Sundre Curling Club's season-ending spiel that ran March 28 to April 3 was in Mundare, east of Edmonton.
The events all lined up well with their schedule ahead of their return to Korea to compete in nationals there in mid-April. They didn't set their sights on winning the bonspiels, but were instead focused on getting as much practice as possible, said coach Yang.
The national competition in South Korea determines what team will represent the country on the international stage in World Championships. The mid-April contest is an annual tournament, and next year's winners will go on to represent their country in the 2018 Olympics, which are set to be hosted in South Korea. Although the team was looking to qualify for the World Championships, the big goal is to compete in Pyeongchang, South Korea, which will host the next Olympics, he said.
Seeing as the whole team aspired to win in April, taking some time to check out the local sights unfortunately did not fit on their schedule. They weren't thinking in terms of counting wins and losses but rather were focused on proper training and preparation. When they weren't playing a bonspiel, they were busy practising, essentially only taking breaks to eat and rest. After all, they did not come all the way to Canada to enjoy leisure time but to improve their ability to curl, the coach said.
However, they felt welcome and at home in Sundre and appreciated the generosity and hospitality extended by the local curling club's members, who invited them for a pleasant supper at the rink along with all the teams that participated in the bonspiel, he said.
Curling has become an increasingly popular sport in South Korea, both in terms of fan base and number of teams since the 2010 Paralympic Games in Vancouver, when the country claimed a silver medal in the discipline after making it to the final against Canada. And with the next Olympics being held at home, interest in curling in South Korea is only continuing to grow, he said.
They plan to put the additional experience they gained in Alberta to good use. Korea's national curling tournament is based on a point system — a certain placing will earn a team some points, and the top-eight ranked rinks get a chance to compete. Seeing as they were already ranked in second place, their spot was already assured, he said.
But the extra practice is crucial. Curling is not a sport that depends largely on strength alone. Strategy and skill are also major elements of the sport, said the coach, adding his favourite aspect of curling is how it combines strength, strategy and skill.
