Rocque watching rocks for China at worlds
Sometimes when China curling coach Marcel Rocque strolls on the ice, he might swing his broom as if he’s hitting a golf ball. Other times, he might use it to play air guitar as rock music blares throughout the arena.
He may ham it up, but when the session begins, Rocque locks in on getting his team focused on the task at hand.
Rocque is comfortable and loose at this week’s World Men’s Curling Championship at the Northlands Coliseum. He won his final Brier title in Edmonton as a member of the famed Ferbey Four in 2005.
“The memories are fantastic in this building,” said Rocque, a native of St. Paul, Alta. “It’s a magical place for me.”
His current team, however, has seen mixed results. A 9-4 loss to Canadian Brad Gushue on Tuesday left skip Rui Liu with a 3-4 record and put him in must-win mode for the rest of the round robin.
China scored an early deuce but errors led to a three-point fifth end for Canada. That was enough for Gushue to take control.
“They’re the mighty Maple Leaf for a reason,” Rocque said. “You can’t make those mistakes.”
On the eve of this week’s world championship, he stood by the end boards to look out at the sheet. Memories of his team’s 5-4 win over Nova Scotia’s Shawn Adams in the ’05 final quickly returned.
“It just flooded back,” Rocque said. “It’s a really cool experience to be back here in this setting. Having an opportunity to play here again — even though (I’m) not playing — I feel a part of it.”
At 7-0, Gushue is the only unbeaten skip in the 12-team field. His rink routed Germany’s Alexander Baumann 8-2 in Tuesday’s late draw.
“I think we’re loose, we’re having fun,” Gushue said before the Germany match. “We’re enjoying this experience and this opportunity.”
Rocque returned to the Chinese program last year and plans to guide the national men’s team through the 2018 Olympics. He spent a season with the program ahead of the 2014 Sochi Games and helped the team finish fourth.
“Really, the decision was simply that we have to give back to this game that’s so good to us,” he said.