GRANDIR suspends women's four-person curling team activities this season; players to continue in mixed doubles

GRANDIR, a women's curling team, announced that it will suspend its activities as a four-person team this season. The announcement said the team, which aims to compete on the world stage, determined it would be difficult to fully meet the expectations of its supporters. The players will continue their activities through mixed doubles.

The announcement cited the reason for the suspension as "the difficulty of fully fulfilling our responsibility to the expectations and support we have received from everyone." The team said that for a squad aiming at the world stage, continuing to meet supporters' expectations is a prerequisite for its activities, and that its judgment that it could not fulfill that responsibility was the central reason for the suspension.

What draws attention in the announcement is that, while the four-person activities will be suspended, the players will continue competing through mixed doubles. Mixed doubles is a two-person event with one man and one woman per team and is also an official event at the Winter Olympics. By competing under a framework separate from the four-person format, the players will still compete on the ice.

Curling is a sport in which teams slide stones across the ice, and the side that gets more stones closer to the house, the circular scoring area, scores points. A team consists of four players, who share the duties of throwing stones and sweeping, which means brushing the ice. Four-person curling requires many people and a demanding environment for tactics and practice, so team operations and costs tend to be heavy.

Mixed doubles involves two players forming one team, so it is distinctive in that it allows practice and competition with a small group. It requires fewer people than four-person events and is often pursued as a way to continue competing. It is also contested as an official event at international competitions, making it an important stage for players aiming for the world level.

The major international stages for curling include the four-person World Championships and the Winter Olympics. Teams aiming for these events need long-term training plans and a stable structure. A decision like this one to suspend four-person activities can serve as a turning point for a team to rebuild its structure and review its preparations for its goals.

The suspension of four-person activities is a temporary break for the team. Future developments are expected to depend on the content of its mixed doubles activities and on whether it resumes activities as a four-person team. Readers can follow the changes through the players' appearances and results in competitions.