Scotland have made a confident start to their Kuntai World Wheelchair Curling Championships campaign and after five days of round robin competition, the Scots currently sit 4th in the table.

Scotland got off to a flying start with victories over Norway and Italy but followed this up with a disappointing defeat to Korea. However, Coach Sheila Swan rallied the team who responded with victories against Switzerland and Canada.

Day four of the round robin competition opened with a match against Sweden, which the Scots would ultimately lose 9-2. Scotland Vice Skip Gregor Ewan commented after the encounter;

“We have played Sweden a few times this season and we have had the better of them a couple of times but they are a good strong team and that game was very hard. As a team of four not one of us actually turned up to play them. We played so bad it was unbelievable,” he said.

Ewan explained that a pep talk from Coach Sheila Swan had contributed to turning things around for the afternoon session which saw the Scots emphatically beat Latvia 10-1;

“We came out of the game against Sweden, back to the team room and Sheila was not too happy with us,” he said.

“We knew that we had to be better than we were this morning and I am glad to say that everyone produced in that Latvia game.”

Day five of the Championships shaped up to be the most challenging of the week with Scotland scheduled to meet defending World Champions the RCF and reigning Paralympic champions China. This was to be a day of mixed fortunes with an opening 8-4 defeat to the RCF. However, the Scots once again demonstrated supreme mental strength to bounce back and record a fantastic 3-2 victory over China.

Scotland will bring their round robin fixture to a conclusion tomorrow when they start the day, facing Slovakia and the USA in the afternoon session. Hopes are high that positive results in these fixture will see the Scots progress to the knockout stages of the Championships.

Team Scotland

Hugh Nibloe (Stirling) – made his debut as skip at the last World Wheelchair Champs and this will be his second opportunity to lead Scotland’s quartet into action at what will be his fifth World Championship appearance.

David Melrose (Duns) – made his debut at the World Championships when it was hosted in Stirling when Scotland won silver in 2019 and after being unable to compete in Wetzikon in Switzerland in 2020, he is looking forward to representing Scotland again.

Gregor Ewan (Elgin) – the two time Paralympian last took to the podium at a World Champs in 2017 and this event represents his first major championship appearance since competing at the Paralympics in PyeongChang in 2018

Charlotte McKenna (Bridge of Allan) – Debutant at last year’s World Champs.

Meggan Dawson-Farrell (Tullibody) – Former Commonwealth Games athlete who was alternate at her first World Champs last year and will hope to take to the ice this time around.

 

Results to date

Scotland v Norway 6-4

Scotland v Italy 10-4

Scotland v Korea 6-8

Scotland v Canada 7-4

Scotland v Switzerland 11-7

Scotland v Sweden 2-9

Scotland v Latvia 10-1

Scotland v RCF 4-8

Scotland v China 3-2

 

Results

 

#curling #WWhCC2021 #cheerfromoverhere

 

Thanks to Kate Weldon at British Curling

Photos: © WCF/Alina Pavlyuchik

Scotland’s wheelchair curling team are making final preparations for the 2021 Kuntai World Wheelchair Curling Championship which are being held in Beijing from 23 – 30 October.

The top twelve teams in the world will compete at the iconic National Aquatic Centre, used during the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games. Teams from Canada, China, Italy, Korea, Latvia, Norway, RCF, Scotland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA will compete to be crowned World Champions.

The Scots face a difficult match against a Norway team currently ranked second in the world in the opening match of their round robin campaign. Scotland conclude their round robin matches on the 28 October and will then hope to progress to the medal matches on the 30 October.

Beijing will also be the venue for the Winter Paralympic Games that will take place from 4 – 13 March 2022 so, as well as targeting success at this event, British Curling’s Paralympic Head Coach Sheila Swan sees it as a golden opportunity to learn and prepare for the Paralympic challenge ahead.

“It has been a year of many challenges but it is without doubt great to be getting back to competing at a World Championships,” she said.

“This will be a great test event ahead of the Paralympic Games next year and will be a good chance to get a feel of the venue and the ice conditions.

“All of the planning and preparations we have been making for a season with two major events will now become a reality. Travelling east and changing time zones and all that entails is a great opportunity to test out all of those plans and protocols during our travel out to Beijing. 

“I know the team is looking forward to getting back into world class action as they last competed at this level in February last year, but I know they all feel it has been worth the wait and the coming weeks represents the chance to put all of their hard work and training in the National Curling Academy (NCA) over the last year into action.

“The venue and time zone may be different, but the target will remain the same as they bid first to qualify for the Worlds next year and following that qualification, focus on reaching the knock-out stages of the tournament.”

Scotland Team:

Hugh Nibloe (Stirling) – made his debut as skip at the last World Wheelchair Champs and this will be his second opportunity to lead Scotland’s quartet into action at what will be his fifth World Championship appearance.

David Melrose (Duns) – made his debut at the World Championships when it was hosted in Stirling when Scotland won silver in 2019 and after being unable to compete in Wetzikon in Switzerland in 2020, he is looking forward to representing Scotland again.

Gregor Ewan (Elgin) – the two time Paralympian last took to the podium at a World Champs in 2017 and this event represents his first major championship appearance since competing at the Paralympics in PyeongChang in 2018

Charlotte McKenna (Bridge of Allan) – Debutant at last year’s World Champs.

Meggan Dawson-Farrell (Tullibody) – Former Commonwealth Games athlete who was alternate at her first World Champs last year and will hope to take to the ice this time around.

Twelve mixed gender teams will compete in the round robin phase, followed by a six team play-off. The top two teams progress to the semi finals while the team ranked third will meet the team ranked sixth and the team ranked fourth will meet the team ranked fifth for the right to join them in the semi finals.

The World Wheelchair Curling Championships 2021 is the final competition where qualification points for the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games can be earned.

For more information on the World Wheelchair Curling Championships please visit:

https://worldcurling.org/events/wwhcc2021/

Scottish Curling in partnership with Parasport and Lothian Wheelchair Curling Club are delighted to be running a Para Try Curling festival on the afternoon of Friday 22^nd October at Curl Edinburgh, Murrayfield.

“Try Curling” is our introductory curling programme that runs within ice rinks across Scotland and during the event we will be running specially adapted para Try Curling sessions to allow people of all ability levels to experience curling.

We are excited to invite those with various abilities who are in secondary school or older, along to this exciting festival. Sessions will be 60 minutes long and provide participants with the opportunity to try curling, throw a few stones and get a feel for the sport.

During the day we will also have special appearances and visits from some of Scotland and Great Britain’s top para curlers including Olympic Bronze medallist Aileen Neilson.

Full event information and details on how to sign up are available on the Scottish Curling website.

For further information or questions, please contact Catriona Morton via catriona@scottishcurling.org

Scottish Disability Sport is delighted to welcome back Louise Gillespie to the role of part-time regional manager for North and South Lanarkshire.

She joins the SDS team with a wealth of knowledge and experience in all areas of sports development. Louise is passionate about creating new opportunities and engaging participants with disabilities in sport. She returned home to Edinburgh in February 2020 to take up a maternity cover post with Scottish Disability Sport after five years of living in London and Hong Kong.

Returning to SDS following ten months working for Waterski and Wakeboard Scotland she also works part-time for Help for Heroes engaging injured and disabled veterans in sport and physical activity.

In her spare time, Louise plays basketball and netball (when her knees allow!) and is currently training to become a paddleboard instructor. Louise is looking forward to working with partners to further develop disability sport opportunities for participants, volunteers, coaches, and clubs across North and South Lanarkshire.

Welcome back, Louise!