Dilşat Yıldız

Dilşat Yıldız
Curler
Born (1996-09-29) September 29, 1996 (age 27)
Erzurum, Turkey[1]
Team
Curling clubMilli Piyango CA, Erzurum
SkipDilşat Yıldız
ThirdÖznur Polat
Secondİfayet Şafak Çalıkuşu
LeadBerfin Şengül
AlternateMihriban Polat
Mixed doubles
partner		Bilal Ömer Çakır
Curling career
Member Association Turkey
World Championship
appearances		2 (2022, 2023)
World Mixed Doubles Championship
appearances		6 (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)
European Championship
appearances		11 (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)

Dilşat Yıldız (born September 29, 1996) is a Turkish female curler. She is a member of Çelebi S.K. in Erzurum.[2] Currently, she is studying physical education and sports at the Fırat University.[3] She is the first ever Turkish curler to skip a men's or women's team at the World Championship, competing in the 2022 World Women's Curling Championship.[4]

Career

While simultaneously competing on the women's team, Yıldız skipped the Turkish national junior team from 2013 to 2018. Notably, she reached the final of the 2015 European Junior Curling Challenge, the final of two consecutive World Junior-B Curling Championships and skipped the Turkish team at three World Junior Curling Championships. Her team won only one game in both of their appearances in 2017 and 2018, however, secured three victories at the 2016 World Junior Curling Championships, defeating all three of Hungary, Japan and Russia.[5]

Yıldız was admitted to the Turkish women's national team in 2012. She competed in the 2012 European Curling Championships-Group C[6] and following her team's promotion in the European Curling Championships-Group B in Karlstad, Sweden.

Yıldız took part at the 2013 European Junior Curling Challenge-Group B in Prague, Czech Republic, which was the qualifying tournament for the 2013 World Junior Curling Championships.[2] She skipped a 3–2 win in the round robin, failing to reach the semifinals. She ranked fifth of twelve competitors.[7]

Yıldız competed in her first European Curling Championships in 2012 as second for the Elif Kızılkaya rink. The team finished 4–5 in the B Division, one game short of advancing to the playoff round.[8] After losing in a tiebreaker in both 2014 and 2015, the Turkish women's team qualified for the playoffs in the B Division at the 2016 European Curling Championships, finishing second in the round robin with a 7–2 record. The team then defeated Estonia 10–2 in the semifinal before dropping the final 6–5 to Hungary.[9] Despite the loss, the top two finish earned Turkey a spot in the A Division for the 2017 championship, the first time the country ever qualified to compete in the highest level. At the 2017 European Curling Championships, Yıldız led her Turkish squad to a 2–7 ninth-place finish, relegating Turkey back into the B Division for 2018. One of their victories, however, came against the world silver medalists team of Anna Sidorova from Russia.[10]

Back in the B Division at the 2018 European Curling Championships, Yıldız again finished in second through the round robin with a 7–2 record. She then lost to Estonia 7–3 in the semifinal before defeating Lithuania 6–5 to earn the bronze medal. This wasn't enough, however, to advance her team into the 2019 A Division. For the first time in her career, Yıldız topped the round robin at the 2019 European Curling Championships again with a 7–2 record.[11] This earned her team the top seed in the playoff round, where they easily defeated England 9–4 in the semifinal. This advanced her Turkish side to the final, which they would drop 5–2 to Italy's Veronica Zappone.[12] Despite the loss, their top two finish not only earned them a berth in the A Division for 2021, but also a spot at the 2020 World Qualification Event for a chance to qualify for the 2020 World Women's Curling Championship.[13] At the event, Yıldız led Turkey to a 4–3 round robin record, enough to earn the third playoff spot.[14] They then faced Italy for the final berth in the World Championship. Again, however, the Italians got the best of Team Turkey, defeating them 8–4 and earning the last spot at the Women's Worlds.[15] The Turkish team did not compete in any international events during the 2020–21 season due to the cancellation of all events because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[16]

The 2021–22 season was a breakout season for Turkish curling, particularly Yıldız, as the nation found relative successful in the international events they attended. At the start of the season, Erzurum hosted the 2021 Pre-Olympic Qualification Event to qualify teams for the 2021 Olympic Qualification Event. In both the women's and mixed doubles disciplines, Yıldız was successful in qualifying Turkey for the Olympic Qualification Event, finishing a perfect 5–0 with partner Uğurcan Karagöz in the mixed doubles and going 5–1 to qualify her women's team.[17][18] Their next event was the 2021 European Curling Championships, where Yıldız and her team competed in the A Division. Through the event, Turkey posted three victories against Denmark, Estonia and Italy, enough to finish in seventh place in the group. This seventh-place finish was enough to earn them a direct spot into the 2022 World Women's Curling Championship, the first time Turkey ever qualified for a men's or women's world championship.[19] Next was the Olympic Qualification Event, held December 5 to 18 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. First was the mixed doubles event, where Yıldız and her partner Uğurcan Karagöz lost all six of their matches. She then played in the women's event where she, with teammates Öznur Polat, Berfin Şengül, Ayşe Gözütok and Mihriban Polat, finished 3–5 through the round robin. Their three victories, however, came against the top three teams in the event. The team defeated the eventual Olympic gold and silver medalists Eve Muirhead and Satsuki Fujisawa, as well as the silver medalists from 2018 in Korea's Kim Eun-jung.[20] Into the new year, Yıldız and the women's team represented Turkey at the World Championship. After losing multiple close games in extra ends, the Turkish team was able to record their first victory in World Women's Championship history against Czech Republic's Alžběta Baudyšová 7–5 in Draw 17 of the event.[21] The team ultimately finished the event in eleventh place with a 2–10 record, recording their second victory against the Scottish team who had to withdraw before the event began.[22]

Team Yıldız had their best European Championship to date at the 2022 European Curling Championships. After three consecutive losses, the team won five straight games which included wins over higher seeded Germany, Denmark and Norway. In their final game, they lost a narrow 8–7 match to Sweden's Anna Hasselborg, finishing in sixth place and just outside of the playoffs.[23] As they had finished in the top eight, however, they qualified once again for the 2023 World Women's Curling Championship. There, Yıldız and her team of Öznur Polat, Mihriban Polat, Berfin Şengül and İfayet Şafak Çalıkuşu again had a slow start, going 1–4 in their first five games. They then picked up momentum, winning four of their next five games, which included wins against Japan, Korea, Germany and Denmark. Needing to win their next two games to qualify for the playoffs, they fell 10–4 to Canada, eliminating them from contention.[24] They were able to beat Scotland in their final round robin game to finish in eighth place with an even 6–6 record in their second world championship appearance.[25]

Yıldız has competed in six World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship for Turkey from 2016 to 2019, 2022 and 2023. Her best finish came in 2018 where she, along with partner Uğurcan Karagöz, finished eighth out of forty teams. Through the round robin, the pair finished with a 5–2 record. They then defeated Estonia in the round of sixteen before dropping the quarterfinal match to Canada.[26] She has also competed in four World Mixed Curling Championship's in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. Her best finish at the event came in 2017, where she threw fourth stones for the Turkish team skipped by Alican Karataş. The team, with Semiha Konuksever and Orhun Yüce on the front end, finished the round robin with a 5–1 record. This earned them a berth in the round of sixteen, where they defeated Hungary. They then were defeated by Norway, eliminating them from the event.[27]

Personal life

Yıldız is employed as a teacher.[1]

Achievements

Year Competition Host Position Rank GP W L
2012 European Championships-Group C Turkey Erzurum Second 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 6 1
European Championships-Group B Sweden Karlstad Second 15th 9 4 5
2013 European Junior Challenge-Group B Czech Republic Prague Skip 5th 5 3 2
2014 European Junior Challenge Finland Lohja Skip 7th 6 2 4
European Championships – Group B Switzerland Champéry Third 5th 9 5 4
2015 European Junior Challenge Czech Republic Prague Skip 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 9 6 3
World Mixed Championship – Group D Switzerland Bern Third 4th 8 4 4
European Championships – Group B Denmark Esbjerg Skip 4th 9 6 3
2016 World Junior Championship Denmark Copenhagen Skip 8th 10 3 7
World Mixed Doubles Championship Sweden Karlstad Female 17th 7 4 3
World Mixed Championship Russia Kazan Lead 9th 8 5 3
European Championship-Group B Scotland Braehead Skip 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 11 8 3
2017 World Junior-B Championship Sweden Östersund Skip 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 9 8 1
World Junior Championship South Korea Gangneung Skip 10th 9 1 8
World Mixed Doubles Championship Canada Lethbridge Female 27th 7 2 5
World Mixed Championship Switzerland Champéry Fourth 5th 8 6 2
European Championship Switzerland St. Gallen Skip 9th 9 2 7
2018 World Junior-B Championship Finland Lohja Skip 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 9 7 2
World Junior Championship Scotland Aberdeen Skip 10th 9 1 8
World Mixed Doubles Championship Sweden Östersund Female 8th 11 5 6
European Championship-Group B Estonia Tallinn Skip 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 11 8 3
2019 World Mixed Doubles Championship Norway Stavanger Female 17th 7 5 2
European Championships-Group B Sweden Helsingborg Skip 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 11 8 3
World Mixed Doubles Qualification Event Scotland Howwood Female 5th 9 7 2
2020 World Qualification Event Finland Lohja Skip 3rd 8 4 4
2021 Pre-Olympic Qualification Event – Mixed doubles Turkey Erzurum Female 1st 5 5 0
Pre-Olympic Qualification Event – Women's Turkey Erzurum Skip 2nd 6 5 1
European Championship Norway Lillehammer Skip 7th 9 3 6
Olympic Qualification Event – Mixed doubles Netherlands Leeuwarden Female 13th 6 0 6
Olympic Qualification Event – Women's Netherlands Leeuwarden Skip 7th 8 3 5
2022 World Women's Championship Canada Prince George Skip 11th 12 2 10
World Mixed Doubles Championship Switzerland Geneva Female 19th 9 1 8
European Championship Sweden Östersund Skip 6th 9 5 4
World Mixed Doubles Qualification Event Scotland Dumfries Female 3rd 8 6 2
2023 World Women's Championship Sweden Sandviken Skip 8th 12 6 6
World Mixed Doubles Championship South Korea Gangneung Female 12th 9 4 5
European Championship Scotland Aberdeen Skip 8th 9 2 7
Total 317 162 155

References

  1. ^ a b "2022 World Women's Curling Championship Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Palandöken'den Prag'a curling çıkarması". Erzurum Gazetesi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2013-01-05.
  3. ^ "Beden Eğitimi ve Spor Oğretmenliği Bölümü 2011-12" (in Turkish). Fırat University. Retrieved 2013-01-05.
  4. ^ Andrew Kurjata (March 23, 2022). "Turkish curlers winning fans at World Women's Curling Championship debut". CBC Sports. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  5. ^ "Canada complete round-robin stage undefeated". World Curling Federation. March 11, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  6. ^ "Avrupa Karışıklar Curling Şampiyonası ve Curling C Grubu Avrupa Şampiyonası Başlıyor" (in Turkish). Türkiye Buz Pateni Federasyonu. Archived from the original on April 18, 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  7. ^ "2013 European Junior Curling Challenge". World Curling Federation. Archived from the original on 2018-02-28. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
  8. ^ "Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2012". World Curling Federation. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  9. ^ "Hungary & Netherlands to challenge for Worlds places". World Curling Federation. November 25, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
  10. ^ "ECC 2017 Results Book" (PDF). CURL IT. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  11. ^ "Play-offs begin at the European B-Division in Helsingborg". World Curling Federation. November 22, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  12. ^ "Italy women and Czech Republic men win European B-Division gold". World Curling Federation. November 23, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  13. ^ "Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships set for Helsingborg, Sweden". World Curling Federation. November 11, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  14. ^ "Play-off places set as the world qualification event round robin concludes". World Curling Federation. January 17, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  15. ^ "Italy women and Russia men complete world championship line-ups". World Curling Federation. January 18, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  16. ^ "Five 2020–2021 season world qualification events cancelled". World Curling Federation. September 1, 2020. Archived from the original on December 28, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  17. ^ "Denmark, Latvia and Turkey qualify for the Olympic Qualification Event mixed doubles competition". World Curling Federation. October 8, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  18. ^ "Czech Republic and Finland men and Latvia and Turkey women qualify for the Olympic Qualification Event". World Curling Federation. October 15, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  19. ^ "Germany grab last semi-final spot in the women's last round-robin session". World Curling Federation. November 25, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  20. ^ "Scotland women qualify for Beijing 2022, while Japan, Korea and Latvia secure play-off spots at the OQE". World Curling Federation. December 16, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  21. ^ "Turkey record historic first World Championship win". World Curling Federation. March 25, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  22. ^ Bryan Murphy (March 28, 2022). "2022 World Women's Curling Championship: Results, final standings of Canada's Bronze medal performance at the international tournament". Sporting News. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  23. ^ "Live Blog: Day six at the ECC". World Curling Federation. November 23, 2022. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  24. ^ "Canada's Einarson tops Turkey 10-4 at women's world curling championship". Global News. March 24, 2023. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  25. ^ "Live Blog: Day seven at the WWCC". World Curling Federation. March 24, 2023. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  26. ^ "World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2018 set for the semi-finals". World Curling Federation. April 27, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  27. ^ "Canada, Czech Republic, Norway and Scotland make the final four". World Curling Federation. October 13, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2022.

External links