Curling

Curling is a winter sport that is usually played on the ice that is well-combined with a winter vacation. When curling there are 2 teams and each of them consists of four players. Each of the four players is trying to curl the stones as close as possible to a central target circle. This winter kind of sport is particularly popular in Scandinavia, Switzerland, Canada and Scotland, but it is also considered to be a kind of winter sports as it includes tactical sophistication. The typical winter sports countries offer some types of curling for a perfect winter vacation.

The necessary equipment for curling consists of suitable shoes, curling stones and a broom. You can be dressed the way you like. The broom is used to rub on the surface of the ice to make it smooth, flat and clean in order to create the better stone slips. The rules of the games are actually simple. Each team pushes their stones alternatively to the middle while trying to correct the angular momentum of stone and the right speed and direction to be taken. The team that has lost in the previous can make an extra stone throwing at the end of the circle. The duration of a game is usually eight to 10 circles; the captain of the team sets the strategy.

International competitions have been already listed since 1959. The teams play with each other but only four teams with the most victories reach the finale. Curling as a kind of sports was officially recognized in 1968 as the first Scotch Cup was played. In 1968 the first women’s world championship was held. In 1988 the women’s competitions were merged with the men’s ones and separated again in 2005. The first European Championship was held in 1975.