The Chinese capital of Beijing has been awarded the rights to host the 2017 World Women's Curling Championships.

The event, awarderd by the World Curling Federation (WCF) on October 19, is set to take place from March 18 to 26, 2017. The venue for the championship is yet to be confirmed.

It marks for the first time a World Women’s Curling Championship to be held in China, following the men’s edition being held at Beijing’s Capital Indoor Stadium last year.

It also represents another boost for winter sports in Beijing, after the city was announced to be the host city for the 2022 winter Olympic Games back in July.

“It is a good time for winter sports in Asia with the next two winter Olympic Games set to be held in PyeongChang, Korea in 2018 and in Beijing in 2022,” World Curling Federation president Kate Caithness said.

“The award of the 2017 World Women’s Curling Championship to Beijing reflects this and rewards China’s hard work in developing the sport.”

Held annually in March, the World Championships is the flagship competition on the women's curling calendar, with 12 teams set to compete from across Europe, the Americas and the Pacific-Asia region.

This year’s event took place in Sapporo, Japan in March, while the 2016 edition will be held in Canada.

Source: sd.china & Inside the games