2018 Arctic Curling Cup was held in Dudinka from 24 to 27 May for the third time. This time, 10 double mixed teams took part in the tournament with the prize money $ 30 000. The tournament was the last one in the 2017/18 season of the World Curling Tour.

But the event was notable not only due to the very strong participants, but also because of the program, which was prepared by the organizers of the only international tournament behind the Arctic circle.

On the day of arrival, the guests had time to visit the Museum of local history, the house of folk art, and the dinner party by the head of the town Dudinka. The symbolic ritual of "initiation of Taymyr people", the famous mammoth Zhenya, which was found a few years ago and became an event in science, the hospitality of the local people, unique culture of Taymyr, a lot of emotions and impressions of visitors from Europe and North America, and for the Russians.

After a busy first day of stay on the Taymyr, the games began the next day. Because of the abundance of world-class stars, the results of the tournament were very difficult to predict. The famous 51-year-old Finn Markku Uusipaavalniemi pleasantly surprised by the level of the game. He was actually a playing coach for Eszter Juhász, and this duo already in the first match caused a sensation, beating the Swedish-Canadian team of Niklas Edin/Rachel Homan. This team has become an event in the world of curling – both Niklas and Rachel are the skips of their teams, they have victories in the World Championships, and Edin won medals at the Olympic Games in 2014 and 2018. These stars first came out on the ice together in Dudinka, and it was clear that in the first games it is difficult to find a "common language" on the ice, although Niklas knows English perfectly. After the defeat of the Finns, Homan and Edin almost missed the victory in the match against young players from the Krasnoyarsk Krai Anna Venevtseva and Vasily Groshev.

Venevtseva and Groshev looked initially the weakest of the three Russian teams, but because of their performance, despite 4 defeats, they should not be upset. In three games they were close to victories over much more experienced and titled masters.

Two other Russian teams successfully started the tournament, having two victories in two matches. Silver medalists of the 2018 World Mixed Doubles Maria Komarova and Daniil Goryachev eventually reached the semi-finals, winning in the group 3 out of 4 matches. However, in the semifinals, the Russians lost to the Scots Gina Aitken and Duncan Menzies, who almost first played here together. The Scots were another pleasant surprise at the tournament - players from the homeland of the curling almost did not make mistakes, which helped them to reach the final of the tournament with such a strong composition of participants.

Another Russian pair Anastasia Bryzgalova and Alexey Timofeev although performing together for the club "Adamant" from St. Petersburg, did not play in one team before. In the first matches it seemed that this Russian pair will be able to reach the semifinals, but in the third day they suffered two defeats. The Russians had a chance to reach the semifinals on the results of training shots even after the second loss, but the Scots managed to beat the Czechs in extra-end and bypass Bryzgalova and Timofeev.

However game days for athletes were filled not only with ice battles. This year's tournament was dedicated to the children of Taymyr, and they became real participants of the Arctic Cup. In the open lessons in schools of Dudinka the children asked the players the questions that were received sincere answers. And in the Dudinka boarding school students performed in front of the guests with dances, songs and poems, and then treated pancakes, which, of course, especially fell to the taste of foreign athletes.

Many interesting events were prepared not only for participants of tournament, but also for the audience. The opening and closing ceremonies were bright events within the tournament. Aerial acrobats, and skaters, and dancers, and the ensemble of bagpipes and drummers performed during the ceremony. In the center of attention were the deer, who were brought to Dudinka by deer herders, and even the inhabitants of Dudinka were photographed with them with pleasure. Participants of the tournament also made a lot of selfies with friendly husky.

On the arena itself, the audience was met by the Taymyr mascot mammoth Zhenya, as well as the mascot of the 2019 Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk - U-Laika.

Before the decisive matches of the masters, the final of the children's tournament of local students of the curling school was played.

Of course, the central event was the matches for the awards of the tournament, which gathered the full stands of the ice arena. In the match for third place Maria Komarova and Daniil Goryachev pleased the fans and won a convincing victory over the Czech team with the score 8:3. The final turned out to be very persistent. The Scots managed to level the score in the 7th end (6-6), but in the final end Rachel Homan had the last rock. And the famous Canadian did not waver, she made a throw close to ideal. Deserved victory 7: 6 and first place in the tournament! At the first joint tournament with such a strong composition of participants Homan and Edin were the best.

Niklas Edin said immediately after the victory: "it was the first time that Rachel and I played together, so the victory was a pleasant surprise in such a strong team of participants. We had a great time in Dudinka, and we enjoyed the game and the events."

Athletes, many of whom have repeatedly performed at the Olympic Games and World Championships, noted the level of organization of the tournament, the convenience of the arena and the quality of ice in Dudinka.

The audience also liked the world-class curling, and everyone is waiting for a new Arctic Cup to warmly welcome new guests of Taymyr!