Competition is set to take place until March 22 and will see Switzerland attempt to defend the title they won last year in St John, Canada.

The Canadian team will be out for revenge having been beaten in last year's final in front of a home crowd, however they did earn Olympic gold at Sochi 2014 and, with skip Jennifer Jones, will begin as one of the favourites.

Silver medallists at Sochi 2014, Sweden are likely to pose another threat to Switzerland's hopes of defending the title and the Scottish team, led by 2014 Olympic bronze medallist Eve Muirhead, will be attempting to claim World Championship victory for the third time, having won in 2002 and 2013 in Bismarck and Riga. 

Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway and Russia will also compete at the 2015 tournament having qualified through the 2014 European Curling Championships and they will be joined by Pacific-Asia champions China and the United States. .

Japan, who are hosting the tournament for the second time having staged 2007 edition in Aomori, complete the 12 team line-up having automatically qualified as host nation.

Following an Opening Ceremony tomorrow, countries will play 17 round robin matches, to determine the top-four ranked teams and if required, a tie breaker will be played to determine who progresses.

Sochi 2014 Olympic champions Canada will be one of the favourites for the tournament ©Getty Images



As with all World Curling Federation World Championship events, curling's Page Play-off system will be used, in which the top two ranked teams following the round-robin face will each other, with the winner will advance directly to the gold medal game.

The loser will be given a second chance by playing a semi-final against the winner of the play-off between the teams ranked third and fourth, with the victor then advancing to the gold medal match and loser set to playoff for bronze against the beaten team in the third and fourth ranked game.

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