Markku Uusipaavalniemi
| Markku Uusipaavalniemi | |
|---|---|
| Curler | |
 |
|
| Born |
23 November 1966 Karkkila, Finland |
| Team | |
| Curling club | CC Dominant Eye, Helsinki |
| Skip | Markku Uusipaavalniemi |
| Third | Jari Laukkanen |
| Second | Joni Ikonen |
| Lead | Jari Turto |
| Career | |
|
World Championship appearances |
11 (1992, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007) |
|
European Championship appearances |
14 (1985, 1986, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2011) |
|
Olympic appearances |
2 (2002, 2006) |
|
Medal record
|
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Markku Uusipaavalniemi (born 23 November 1966 in Karkkila) is a Finnish curler and former politician.
Uusipaavalniemi has been involved in international play for over two decades, and was the skip of Finland for the first time in the mid-1990s. Most (but not all) of Finland's curling medals have been achieved with Uusipaavalniemi as skip. Uusipaavalniemi's team won the European championship in 2000. He is also a two-time World Curling Championships bronze medalist (1998 and 2000) and two-time European Curling Championships bronze medalist (1999 and 2001).
Uusipaavalniemi's Finland team disappointingly finished fifth at the 2002 Olympic tournament.
In 2004, he and his somewhat altered Finland line-up pulled off the daunting task of securing qualification for the 2005 Ford World Men's Curling Championships from the 'B' competition at the European championships, where they languished following the country's relegation the previous season. To do this, they had to win the competition outright, and then overcome Russia in an additional play-off match.
At the 2005 World Championships, Uusipaavalniemi's team finished the round-robin tied for first place with five other teams on an 8-3 record. In the tie-breakers however, they were knocked out of contention by Canada's Randy Ferbey. Also in 2005, Uusipaavalniemi won the first ever European Mixed Curling Championships with team mates Kirsi Nykänen, Teemu Salo and Tiina Kautonen in Andorra.
Uusipaavalniemi's Finland team won the round-robin at the 2006 Olympic tournament with a 7-2 record. They beat Great Britain 4-3 in the semi-final, with the last stone of the final end — thrown by Uusipaavalniemi — giving the Finns the deciding point. Finland lost the final to Canada 10-4 taking the silver medal.
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