Wakkanai, Japan confirmed as host for Pacific-Asia Curling Championships 2020

The Pacific-Asia Curling Championships 2020 will be held in Wakkanai, Japan between 7–14 November 2020. Wakkanai is located on the country's northern Island of Hokkaido and is Japan's northernmost city.

This is the first international curling event to be held in Japan since the Zen-Noh World Women's Curling Championship 2015, which took place in Hokkaido's capital city, Sapporo. This will be the tenth edition of the Pacific-Asia Curling Championships to be held in Japan, however, it will be the first time Wakkanai has hosted the championships.

The championships will be held in the newly constructed Wakkanai Midori Sports Park Curling Hall, in a multi-sport complex only 20 minutes away from the Wakkanai airport.

World Curling Federation President, Kate Caithness said: "We are very happy to be returning to Japan for our Pacific-Asia Curling Championships. This will be the tenth time Japan has hosted these championships and I'm sure that they will once again produce a first-class event.

"This is an important event in our season where qualification to the World Championships will allow teams from our Pacific-Asia region to compete against the other elite women's and men's teams from around the world for places at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022."

Hiroshi Kudo, Mayor of Wakkanai City and Chairman of the Local Organising Committee said: "It is our pleasure to host the Pacific-Asia Curling Championships 2020 in Wakkanai City. The curling hall is located within Wakkanai Midori Sports Park and it was constructed in May 2020. Since then, we have had great messages of support from curling lovers all over Japan since then to appreciate its completion in addition to those in Wakkanai City.

"The entire facility will be completed in October 2020 and it is our honour to host the Pacific-Asia Curling Championships 2020 to celebrate our venue’s grand opening. We really appreciate the wonderful cooperation from everyone in supporting our hosting of the Pacific-Asia Curling Championships 2020."

Wakkanai Curling Association President, Shinji Tomita added: "We are delighted to bring the Pacific-Asia Curling Championships 2020 to Wakkanai City, the northernmost city of Japan, and we sincerely welcome all participating teams. The Curling Hall in Wakkanai Midori Sports Park was constructed in May 2020 with modern facilities to aid the great performance of players and we look forward to hosting all the splendid games of world class curling."

The World Curling Federation and the Japan Curling Association are monitoring the guidelines from the Japanese Government and international health authorities with regards to the ongoing situation with the coronavirus (COVID-19). The championships are expected to go ahead without disruption; however, the health and safety of the athletes, spectators and event staff is of the utmost importance. Evaluations on the viability of running the championship will continue over the next few months as the global situation develops.

The Pacific-Asia Curling Championships are for women’s and men’s teams from the World Curling Federation’s Pacific-Asia zone. These championships qualify teams for the World Curling Championships and World Qualification Event.

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