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: