SPORTS FLASHBACK 2002: Hamblin claims world curling title

A scant 24 hours after he had skipped Canada to the World Junior Curling Championship at Kelowna, BC, a composed David Hamblin and his world championship teammates were piped in to a throng of supporters and media at Winnipeg International Airport.

Hamblin, 20, of Morris, along with third Ross Derksen of Plum Coulee, younger brother Kevin Hamblin, and lead Ross McCannell of Dauphin defeated Sweden in an exciting last rock victory for the world championship title.

The world champs, all university students in Winnipeg, curl out of the Pembina Curling Club in Winnipeg, but these are rural boys and proud of it.

The Hamblin name is well known in Manitoba curling circles. This is a curling family. Fifth man at the world junior championships was 16-year-old Doug Hamblin. The coach was Lorne Hamblin, father of the three Hamblin boys, and their mother, Chris Hamblin, pitched in where she could, to help with the coaching.

In the world final against Sweden, facing two Swedish stones at the top of the 12-foot, a national television audience saw Hamblin coolly draw to the eight-foot with the last rock of the 10th end to win 3-2 and claim Canada’s fifth straight world title.

First place finishers in the round-robin, with an 8-1 record, Canada got by Scotland 6-3 in the semi-finals. The Hamblin foursome was clearly the best team all week long. David Hamblin was the all-star skip, Derksen the all-star third and McCannell the all-star lead. All three are 20-year-olds and have completed their final year of junior. Second Kevin Hamblin, 18, just missed the all-star team.

“It is an incredible feeling,” said David Hamblin, in an interview at the airport following their triumphant arrival as world champs. The world championship skip talked about the confidence they had as they took on the world’s best.

Hamblin pointed out the differences in the game under international rules. He likes the four-rock rule, but was miffed by the fact that finishing first in the round-robin garnered them no last-rock advantage in the playoffs. Because Canada finished tied with Sweden with 8-1 records, they did not get the hammer in the playoffs, because they did not have the sole best record in the round-robin.

In the world final, Hamblin forced the Swedes to take one in the first end, taking the hammer away and controlled the game from that point, as it became a low-scoring defensive struggle. Hamblin blanked the next two ends, drawing for a deuce in the fourth. The next three ends were blanked, before Hamblin again forced Sweden to take one in the eighth, giving the Canadians the coveted hammer in the ninth and 10th.

David Hamblin paid tribute to his father, the coach.

“This world championship is an accumulation of things Kevin and I have learned over the last 10 years curling together.”

Kevin said it was a thrill winning the world championship with his brother.

“I have curled with him all my life; it was a lot of fun. Ross and I had the clocks on the final shot and we knew he was close when David let it go.”

“I am extremely proud of all four of these guys. They’re all like sons to me,” chimed in Lorne Hamblin. Coach Hamblin was also proud of the fact that these rural Manitoba curlers from Morris, Plum Coulee and Dauphin could come together to win a world title.

The last Manitoba rink to win the world junior title was Winnipeg’s Bob Ursel in 1985. Ursel now lives in Kelowna and was there to see Hamblin duplicate his feat of 17 years ago.

Of most immediate concern are university exams, which get underway this week. Further celebrating, at least for the time being, will have to be put on hold.