What is Pan Continental Curling?

Chances are good that some curling fans—particularly in Canada—have no idea what the new Pan Continental Curling Championship heading to Calgary really means.

Over a year ago, the World Curling Federation decided to fold both its Pacific-Asia Championship and the occasional Americas Challenge and merge them into one new event.

So instead of two Pacific-Asia teams beating four others to get world berths, and Canada or USA needing to beat Brazil and occasionally Mexico to get their world spots, all non-European curling teams have come together in a new championship.

The first Pan Continental Curling Championship will be hosted in Calgary Oct. 30 to Nov. 5, smack in the middle of the traditional World Curling Tour cashspiel season. 

They event will see the following men’s nations do battle: Canada, United States, Brazil, Korea, Japan, China, Chinese Taipei and New Zealand. The top five qualify for the 2023 men’s worlds in Ottawa.

The women’s countries are Canada, United States, Brazil, Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan and Australia. The top five qualify for the 2023 women’s worlds in Sandviken, Sweden.

The Aussies get a ninth women’s berth as they were unable to compete at the last-ever Pacific-Asia Championship, which was held in Kazakhstan in 2021.

The Pan Continental closely resembles the annual European Championships, where seven women’s and men’s teams qualify for the worlds.

Like the Europeans there will also be a Pan Continental B-Division, where nations compete for elevation into the following year’s main competition—and where nations can also drop from the top tier into the B-Division.

All nations have to win their way into each women’s and men’s four-player world championship from here on out. One qualifying championship to ensure equal opportunities for all associations, regardless of their size, legacy, political clout and so on.

“We are pleased to see the curling hub of Calgary, Canada continue to welcome world-class curling events to its city,” said World Curling Federation president Kate Caithness.

“The first edition of the Pan Continental Curling Championships 2022 will see the merge of our two world curling zones, Pacific-Asia and Americas, into one large, tiered, route to the world championships. This ensures strong and fair competition for all teams, as they play to represent their association on the world stage.

“Calgary proved they can host international curling following their outstanding efforts to make the Calgary curling bubble a success in 2021, where they stepped up and hosted multiple national and world championships back-to-back.

“The end of the Pacific-Asia Curling Championships marks the beginning of a new chapter and I wish the teams every success as they move forward in this new competition.”

Hans Frauenlob competed in a number of the 30 Pacific-Asia championships, which will now disappear from the curling event calendar. You can read his event summary piece here.