Beijing to host 2017 World Women's Curling Championships

Beijing will host the World Women's Curling Championships in 2017 ©WCF/Richard Gray

Beijing will host the 2017 World Women's Curling Championships, in what will prove a key marker of the city's winter sporting credentials five years before the Olympic and Paralympic Games are due to be held in the Chinese capital, it was announced today.

The event, awarded by the World Curling Federation (WCF) today, is due to be played between March 18 and 26.

It will mark the first edition of the women's Championships to take place in China, following the men's version held at Beijing's Capital Indoor Stadium last year.

A venue is yet to be confirmed this time around, with curling action at Beijing 2022 set to take place in the Water Cube venue, which hosted the aquatics competitions during the Summer Olympics.

It will play a key part in promoting the Olympics in and beyond the city, it is hoped, as well as raising the profile of curling in Asia.

“It is a good time for winter sports in Asia with the next two Winter Olympic Games set to be held in Pyeongchang, Korea in 2018 and in Beijing in 2022," WCF President Kate Caithness said.

"The award of the 2017 World Women’s Curling Championship to Beijing reflects this and rewards China’s hard work in developing our sport.

“This will be the first time a World Women’s Curling Championship will be staged in China, however after a very successful CPT World Men’s Curling Championship here in 2014 we look forward to working with our partners and sponsors to stage another first class championship for the world to enjoy.”

The Water Cube, used for aquatic sports in 2008, will host curling in Beijing 2022, although a venue is yet to be confirmed for the 2017 World Championships, which it was announced today it will be staging ©Wikipedia

Held annually in March, the World Championships is the flagship competition on the women's curling calendar, with 12 teams set to compete from across Europe, the Americas and the Pacific-Asia region.

China have won three women's medals, with their best result coming in 2009, when a team led by Wang Bingyu won gold in Gangneung, South Korea.

“The World Women’s Curling Championship 2017 will act as a warm-up event for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and will be an important tool to promote winter sports in our country," added Sun Xuecai, director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports.

“This Championship will also help improve the skills of our national women’s curling team.”

Next year's Championship are due to be held in Swift Current in Canada, while Esbjerg in Denmark has already been confirmed as the 2019 host as part of a multiple bid which also included the 2015 European Championships.

This year's event took place in Japanese city Sapporo, with Switzerland beating Canada 6-4 in the final.