Round robin play begins Sunday in both the World Mixed Doubles and World Senior curling championships, at the Saint Paul Curling Club in Saint Paul Minnesota. Canada is represented in the Mixed Doubles event by Charlottetown’s Robert Campbell and Rebecca Jean MacDonald duo, who play skip and third respectively on the 2011 Canadian Mixed championship rink. The gold and bronze medal games in both the Doubles and Seniors events take place Saturday April 23 at 2 pm local time.

Photo: Robert Campbell, Rebecca Jean MacDonald

The game of mixed doubles differs from traditional curling as it is for teams of two players – one male and one female – instead of four. Playing time is also shorter and each team has six stones to play (instead of eight) with one of the six stones being prepositioned on the centre line before each end of play starts.

The third World Mixed Doubles competition was held last year in Chelyabinsk Russia, with the Russian team winning the first world championship title ever for the Russian Federation, beating New Zealand in the final. It was the first World Curling Championship medal for New Zealand.

Teams from Canada, Korea, Norway, Scotland and Sweden  had to forfeit their participation in the event due to the travel disruption caused by the Icelandic volcano eruption.

Canada is represented in the Senior Women’s championship by the rink of Christine Jurgenson, Cheryl Noble, Pat Sanders and Roselyn Craig, and in the Senior Men’s by the team of Mark Johnson, Marvin Wirth, Ken McLean and Millard Evans.