The Chinese men's curling team has become the 14th team to earn their ticket at the World Men's Curling Championship 2021 after the World Curling Federation (WCF) announced this week to expand the field for the men's and women's world championships from 13 to 14 teams.

"The World Curling Federation, after extensive consultation with stakeholders, will expand the field for the LGT World Women's Curling Championship 2021 and the World Men's Curling Championship 2021 from 13 to 14 teams," said the WCF.

The Chinese men's curling team have fought to qualify for the 2020 World Men's Curling Championship at the World Qualification Event 2020.

However, as the 2020 world championships were scraped off from the calendar due to the coronavirus pandemic in March, the Chinese men's curling team saw their chance to compete at the 2021 world championship slip away as changes have been made in terms of the qualification process. 

According to the WCF, they have received a request to evaluate the possibility of including those teams which "had secured a place in the 2020 World Championships but failed to meet the qualification requirements for the 2021 championship."

"After this evaluation, it has been agreed that Italy will now be included in the LGT World Women's Curling Championship 2021, while China will become the 14th team in the World Men's Curling Championship 2021."

The World Men's Curling Championship 2021 is scheduled for April 3-11 in Ottawa, Canada and is where teams gain qualification points for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. 

(Cover image: Chinese players brush in front of the stone during the Men's Curling round robin match between China and Canada at the Curling World Cup in Beijing, May 11, 2019. /VCG)