2018 China Open Curling ends successfully with Russia taking home both men and women's championships

CHONGQING, China, Oct. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- After fierce competition in 64 games over 8 days, the 2018 China Open Curling ended successfully on October 22 at Huaxi Sports Center in Chongqing, China. Both men and women's teams contributed world-class performance in the finals with both being settled by a narrow scoring gap in an extra round. At the end, Russia's men's team beat Canada 9-8, while Russia's women's team defeated Switzerland 5-4. For their victory, each team took home $50,000 USD. The second, third and fourth places went to Canada, Norway and Sweden respectively in men's, and Switzerland, Canada and China in women's.

The 2018 China Open Curling is a top-notch international event officially authorized by the Winter Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sport of China and the Chinese Curling Association. It is included in the points system of the Master's Series of the World Curling Tour (WCT), and is the most influential international curling event in China during the preparation for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. This is the first time that Chongqing, also known as "Furnace City', has held a top international curling event, creating a magical collision between ice and fire. This is also the first time in China's history to bring pop stars and entertainment into the curling arena. The pop singers and the fantasy world of sound and light with the enthusiastic cheers from the fans at the opening ceremony reflected the fashion side of curling incisively and vividly.

Having the 2018 China Open Curling held in a southwestern city of China is the result of China's grand strategy to "encourage 300 million people to take part in sports on ice and snow" and the strong influence of Beijing's successful bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Expanding sports on ice and snow from the north to the south and spreading to the west and the east is an important strategy for China to promote the construction and development of winter sports projects.

The China Open Curling has heated Chongqing up, and is only the start. In the future, the China Open Curling will focus on strengthening its quality, expanding its scale, giving full play to Chinese characteristics, inviting more countries to compete and building the Oriental Kingdom of Ice and Snow.

SOURCE 2018 China Open Curling