Curling World Cup European Zone, the third in the Americas Zone, and a Grand Final in Beijing. In January 2018, the World Curling Federation announced the name of the tournament would be changed to the Curling World Cup, and consist of men's, women's, and mixed doubles events. On July 19, 2018, details about the Curling World Cup were announced, including the host cities, format, qualification rules, and logos for each leg of the event. Curling World Cup matches have eight ends, rather than the standard ten ends. Ties after eight ends will be decided by a shoot-out, with each team throwing a stone
Lead (curling) Lead (curling) In curling, the lead is the person who delivers the first two stones of the end for their team. On most teams, where the lead does not act as skip or vice, the lead will sweep for each of their teammates. Because of the free-guard rule, which prevents leads from removing most of an opponents stones, leads are usually proficient at throwing guards and other draws, and throw few takeouts or other power shots. In some regions, such as Eastern Ontario and the Eastern United States, the lead is responsible for determining who has hammer, using random selection,