[ritchiebaby]

There is a Qualifying Event for these Championships being held in Naseby, New Zealand, from 18 January to 23 January. There are 8 teams entered, including England, who are represented by Andrew Reed (Skip), Michael Opel (Third), Jamie Malton (Second), Tom Jaeggi (Lead) and Gary Tapp (Alternate). This is the same team who gained a very creditable Silver Medal in the B Division of the European Championships in November. On their day they are a match for anyone and are quite capable of earning one of the qualification spots. Good luck to them all as they look to end up as one of the Top 2 teams on 23rd January.

England's first round-robin game is on the 18th against Netherlands, followed on the 19th by Australia and then Poland and Denmark on the 20th. Their other games are against Brazil on the 21st and New Zealand and Korea on the 22nd. The top two teams in the round-robin play each other with the winner qualifying for the full Championships in Lethbridge, Canada at the end of March. The loser then plays against the 3rd placed team to decide the remaining qualifier.