County curlers had some world-class opponents last weekend when the Chinese Olympic team showed up to compete in a bonspiel in Gibbons.
About 64 athletes took part in the annual Gibbons Women’s Bonspiel last Friday to Sunday. The tournament saw 16 teams sweep it out in a triple-knockout draw, with the top winners receiving a cool $400.
This year’s tournament had a surplus of international talent in the form of Olympic bronze medallist Bingyu Wang of China and World Curling Tour athlete Suji Kim of South Korea, both of whom took part along with their respective teams.
This was the first time that the tournament has had an Olympic athlete in it, said event co-ordinator Beth Melligan.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had such big names in a bonspiel.”
International teams often come to Canada to practise in bonspiels, Melligan said. Gibbons has drawn many junior international teams in most part due to the efforts of Tim Yeo, a renowned curling icemaker who used to work at the rink.
Melligan said she got a request to enter the South Korean team a few weeks ago, which she felt was kind of neat. It wasn’t until Edmontonian Tom Tan later asked if the Chinese national team could come too that she realized that this tournament would be something big.
“I think this one will be a little tough to top.”
Tan was the coach of the Chinese national team from 2004 to 2014 and now acts as their Canadian contact.
He said Wang was in town for about a month to train up her new team, which has three rookies and has only been together for a few weeks.
“Everybody knows that for curling, Canada is the king country,” Tan said, home to many top-notch facilities and teams, which is why many nations send their squads here to train. That’s especially true for China, which has few curling teams or competitions.
Back when he was coach, Tan said he’d regularly take the team out to places like Gibbons, Edmonton, and Leduc to practise due to the strength of the region’s curling.
“Edmonton people and Alberta people treat us so nice,” he added.
“This is like a second home.”
Small tournaments like the ones in Gibbons are just as important as the big ones, Tan said.
“Curling is a place to socialize,” he said, and he wanted the team to see the cultural side of the sport instead of just the competitive one.
“This (the Gibbons event) is real curling.”
Annette Mortensen was positively star-struck as she played against Wang’s squad in the first round, and said she was surprised Wang had chosen to come to this “little sheet or rink in the middle of nowhere.”
“I’ve watched her on TV at probably every worlds she’s ever played in,” she said, and said her heart had been pounding with anticipation over meeting her.
“I asked (my brother) if I should get her autograph.”
Two of the South Koreans (who were there to prepare for nationals, coach Kyungmi Park said) paired up with Albertans Catherine Rostron and Rhonda Gibson for the bonspiel. There were six in their delegation, and you need four for a team.
Rostron said this was her first time playing with athletes of this calibre, and that it was a lot of fun. Playing proved to be a bit of a challenge since they didn’t speak Korean, but their teammates made up for it with their exceptional skill.
“That’s the beauty of curling: the pro athletes are more than willing to give their time to the recreational curlers.”
The full Korean team took the top prize of $400 with the mixed team taking $100 in the semi-finals, Melligan said. Wang’s team won $150 for coming first in the C-bracket.
The Chinese team will compete in Edson next month before flying to Switzerland, Tan said.
