1.
GV Pipe band leads in teams from Canada, Sweden, Germany, Scotland, England, France, Italy, Denmark and USA (3 shots)
0.35

2.
GV AND CU Silver Broom carried in by Miss Minnesota
0.51

3.
GV Stone being pushed down ice and brushed by officials.
1.10

4.
GV Denmark pushing stone in play
1.18

5.
SV Swiss and Italian team members
1.23

6.
G V USA and German teams on ice watched by crowd (3 shots)
1.41

7.
CU AND GV games in progress
1.55



Initials RH/2029 RH/DE/AH/2047


SPORT: CURLING

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The major championship for the sport of Curling, the Silver Broom, began in Duluth, Minnesota, on Monday (22 March) and this year teams from Scotland, Canada, United States, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Norway, Germany, Italy and Denmark are competing.

The week long contest will present a challenge for the Swiss team. It won the title at last year's championships in Perth in Scotland.

The tournament began in 1959, and it has come a long way since then. It started out as a five-game series. This year there will be a "round-robin" playdown series of 45 games. The finals are scheduled for Sunday (28 March).

Canada dominated the play in the first 15 years of the tournament, and they have held the title almost continuously since its beginning.

The only other countries to best Canada have been Scotland, United States, Sweden and last year Switzerland.

This year's opening ceremony was a colourful affair with pipers, curlers and bands on parade. The Silver Broom was carried around the rink by this year's "Miss Minnesota", Karen Thorn, and several officials connected with the tournament made speeches.

SYNOPSIS: Teams from ten countries gathered in Minnesota in the United States on Monday for the opening of this year's world championships for the sport of curling. It was a colourful ceremony with the curlers led in by a pipe band. An appropriate start-as the roots of curling are thought to lie in Scotland.

Curling could best be describes as a form of bowls on ice. Records suggest the game was played as early as 1500.

The world tournament carries as its prize this Silver Broom, seen here being carried by Miss Minnesota, Karen Thorn. The championship was first played in Scotland in 1959.

The contest has grown rapidly in popularity and this year there'll be a "round-robin" playdown series of 45 games. A principal feature of world curling is the spectacular recent growth of women's and junior clubs, and the accent on youth grows each year.

The defending champions this year are the Swiss curlers, seen here with Italian team. Among the other competitors in the week-long tournament are the United States and Germany. The Scots have been responsible for taking curling to all parts of the world