Australia’s curlers will take an important step next week in their attempt to qualify for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, competing in the prestigious Karuizawa International Curling Championships in Japan from February 13-17.

This competition is an invitation-only Championship, and the men’s team is honoured to be invited to represent Australia. The Championship is part of the Karuizawa Winter Festival, which celebrates the 10th anniversary of the 1998 Nagano Olympics where curling first became a full medal sport.

Pitted against three Japanese teams, and teams from Canada, Germany, Switzerland, and USA, the competition will be at Olympic level, ideal for the men’s team in their preparation for the forthcoming 2008 World Curling Championships and the opportunity to gain important Olympic points.

It will be the fourth year in a row that the Australian men’s team has represented their country at the World Curling Championships, an opportunity they earned by winning silver in the 2007 Pacific Curling Championships.

Placings at the world titles over the three years leading into the Games determine how many Olympic qualification points are accrued by each country. 

First place earns fourteen points, tenth place earns one point, with a range in between. At the end of the three qualification years, the ten countries with the most points obtained from the World Championships qualify for the Olympics. 

Currently Australia is tied for eighth place in the Olympic qualification stakes.

Needless to say, Karuizawa is a most important stepping stone for the Australian Curling Men’s team on the  journey towards the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The team for the event includes:
Hugh Millikin, Skip, Woolstonecraft, NSW
Ian  Palangio , V/Skip, Curl Curl, NSW
Sean Hall, 2nd,Milperra, NSW
Steve Johns, Lead, Westleigh, NSW
Steve Hewitt, 5th, Glen Waverley, Vic
Earle Morris, Coach, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada