Both the Hong Kong Curling Association and the Qatar Curling Federation have been under consideration for acceptance since the annual World Curling Congress in Reno, United States, last month.

As conditional members the two will be supported in their development activities through access to WCF staff and programmes.

"We are delighted to welcome both into the curling family," said WCF President Kate Caithness.

"They have already demonstrated a strong desire to establish curling in their respective countries and we look forward to working with them to help continue their development of our sport."

"Curling has continued to grow incredibly fast in recent years, particularly in the Pacific-Asia region as everyone turns their attention to the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Korea.

"It is certainly an exciting time for the sport of curling and, as a Federation, we are encouraged by the increasing interest in our sport around the world following the success of Sochi 2014."

WCF President Kate Caithness paid a visit to Hong Kong as the Hong Kong Curling Association was announced as a Member Association of the WCF alongside the Qatar Curling Federation ©Facebook



Both the new national governing bodies will form part of the Pacific-Asia Curling zone and will be supported "as they continue to work towards establishing the sport of curling in their respective countries", a statement added.

According to the WCF constitution, provisional members can make the transition to full membership by participating at major international events at least twice in a four year time-frame, and sending representatives to two WCF General Assemblies over the same period. 

Following the news, John Li, President of the Hong Kong Curling Association, said: "Gaining conditional membership of the World Curling Federation is certainly a major milestone for the Hong Kong Curling Association since its establishment.

"We offer our deepest appreciation to the support given to us.

"We aim to make curling a cool sport for all in Hong Kong and we look forward to making new acquaintances as we compete in curling competitions around the world."

Rashed Al-Sulaiti, President of Qatar Curling Federation, added: "We are delighted to have been accepted as conditional members of the World Curling Federation.

"We have already put in place plans to establish the sport of curling and will be working hard over the coming months to ensure the sport continues to develop in Qatar."

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