China's coach Rocque hopes to build off curling showing

Britain's second Scott Andrews and China's second Ba Dexin look down the sheet during their men's curling round robin game at the Ice Cube Curling Center during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics February 17, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

SOCHI - China head coach Marcel Rocque hopes strong performances by both China's men's and women's teams at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games will help him gain recognition as a coach in Canada.

"This is the first time I'm the head coach of one team and in charge of making all the decisions," said Rocque Tuesday who signed a 10-month deal with the Chinese curling team last July.

"It has been a wonderful experience. At first it was a very difficult decision for me, being a proud Canadian, but I think I've proven myself, if anyone had any doubt.

"They were using me as a specialist for just sweeping and front-end work in Canada, so (now) I might have some more value in terms of more involvement, and more than just front-end work," he said.

The 43-year-old, who has three world titles to his credit as a player, has also coached some of Canada's Sochi 2014 curlers in the past, after first getting involved with Canada's coaching program in 2002.

"I've worked with Brad Jacobs and those guys probably three or four times," he said. "In Canada, there are so many players that can potentially be in the team, so you work with everybody."

Both China's teams have done well under his guidance in Sochi. The men's team qualified for the semifinals for the first time while the women's narrowly missed the semifinals in the last game Modnay.

"I may have made them stronger," said Rocque, who still isn't sure of his future with China beyond Sochi 2014, but believes his experiences with them would benefit any team he goes on to coach.