Curling

The stone slides, calibrated to the millimetre, while two team mates smooth the ice that separates the "stone" from the chosen target on the sheet.

Pinerolo will be the home of curling and the baptism of the newly formed Italian teams, present for the first time at the Games.

Curling is ateam game which is performed on a frozen pitch, the concept of which is very similar to bowls. It consists of sliding19.96 kg blocks of stone, which have a handle, so that they stop as close as possible to the centre of a target drawn on the ice (house).

The team

Each team consists of four players. Thelead is the one that makes the first throw. Thesecond is a good points maker, but also good at eliminating the stones of the opponents that are in the way. Thethird are faced with a more tricky game. The fourth player, the skip, is the most experienced player, who establishes the tactics, advises his team mates on each throw and throws last of all.

The delivery of the stone

The lead makes the first throw, known as thedelivery, from a type of block known as thehack. in order for the delivery to be valid it must be within a line known as thehog line. The two leads deliver theirstones one after the other, followed by the 4 deliveries of the two seconds and the 4 deliveries of the two thirds, while each end is concluded by the four stones delivered by the two skips.

Sweeping

Following the delivery, the two sweepers go into action. They position themselves on the pitch (called a sheet) a couple of steps ahead of the stone and, withbrooms made of horse hair, hogs hair or synthetic material, follow through the path and prolong the rotary momentum cleaning the section of play in front. Thesweeping is performed in a side to side motion directly in front of the stone, and the last movement of the broom must be made towards the outside. Once the stone has passed the teeline the skip or viceskip are allowed to sweep. They can only start sweeping after the opponents' stone has passed the said line. On the other hand, by stopping the sweeping action at the right time, the stone can be slowed and stopped in a precise point. Thesweepers can only sweep in the area between the two teelines.

Game strategy

Like in bowls, a stone can knock the opponent's stone out of the scoring area. The skip can therefore ask his team mates to deliver the stone in the house(draw) or to knock an opponent's stone out of the way(take out). Game strategy can be very complicated based on score and game situations.

Scoring

Points are calculated based on the number of stones that finish closest to the centre of the house, before the closest stone of the opponent. Only one team canscore in an end. Each team is allowed 73 minutes of play for 10 ends. If the match is a tie, anextra end is played to determine the winner.

Field of play

Sheet: A 44.5 m long area of play. Its shape allows to play in both directions. House: The area where points are scored: 3.66 m in diameter, with internal rings of 1.22 and 2.44 m in diameter. Tee: The centre of the house, also known as the button. Hack: A rubber foothold from which curlers deliver the stone. Hog Line: The stone must be released before the near hog line, and travel beyond the far hog line, otherwise it is removed from play.

Source: www.torino2006.org

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