Website for World Wheelchair Championships Launched

Russia won the gold medal at the World Curling Wheelchair Championship 2012 in Chuncheon, South Korea  defeating hosts Korea 9-1 in the final. The Koreans took the silver medal. China won the bronze medal, winning their game against Slovakia 7-4.

Now, Feb. 16-23, 2013 sees Russia, Korea, China, Slovakia, USA, Scotland, Canada and Sweden who qualified for this event based on the final ranking at the 2012 World Championship take on Norway and Finland qualified from the World Wheelchair Curling Qualification event in Finland in November 2012. At this years World championships.

The host website can be found at: http://wwhcc2013.curlingevents.com/

After a review of the schedule it seems that unlike in the pass Canada does not have an easy road to start Face Korea, Scotland and China in the first 3 games. A new teams that will be tested early!

The schedule is as follows:

PLAYING SCHEDULE (as of 11 December 2012) DAY DATE TIME DRAW SHEET A SHEET B SHEET C SHEET D BYE FRI. 15 Feb. 09:00 Training FIN SCO KOR CAN x 10:45 Training CHN USA SWE RUS x 12:00 TEAM MEETING at the venue 13:00 Training NOR SVK SCO FIN x 14:45 Training CAN KOR USA CHN x 16:30 Training RUS SWE SVK NOR x 19:00 WELCOME RECEPTION - at the athlete's hotel (Yuzhnoe Vzmorie ) SAT. 16 Feb. 09:30 1 FIN - SCO * KOR - CAN * CHN - USA SWE - RUS NOR, SVK 15:00 OPENING CEREMONY at the venue 16:00 2 NOR - SVK CHN - FIN RUS - KOR CAN - SCO USA, SWE SUN. 17 Feb. 09:30 3 RUS - CAN NOR - USA SCO - SWE * SVK - FIN KOR, CHN 15:30 4 CHN - NOR SVK - SWE x USA - KOR RUS, CAN, SCO, FIN MON. 18 Feb. 09:30 5 SWE - USA KOR - SCO FIN - RUS CHN - CAN NOR, SVK 15:30 6 KOR - FIN RUS - CHN SVK - CAN SCO - NOR USA, SWE TUE. 19 Feb. 09:30 7 x CAN - USA * NOR - SWE RUS - SVK SCO, FIN, KOR, CHN 15:30 8 SCO - CHN FIN - NOR USA - SVK KOR - SWE RUS, CAN WED. 20 Feb. 09:30 9 CAN - SWE CHN - KOR * RUS - SCO FIN - USA NOR, SVK 15:30 10 NOR - RUS SCO - SVK CAN - FIN x KOR, CHN, USA, SWE THU. 21 Feb. 09:00 11 SVK - KOR USA - RUS SWE - CHN NOR - CAN SCO, FIN 14:30 12 USA - SCO SWE - FIN KOR - NOR SVK - CHN RUS, CAN 20:00 TIE-BREAKER GAMES - (if only one, or more, session(s) necessary) FRI. 22 Feb. 09:00 TIE-BREAKER GAMES - (if two sessions necessary) 14:30 1 v 2 and 3 v 4 games (TIE-BREAKER GAMES, only if three sessions necessary) 20:00 SEMIFINAL GAME (1 v 2 and 3 v 4 games, only if 3 tie-breaker sessions) SAT. 23 Feb. 09:30 BRONZE MEDAL GAME (SEMIFINAL GAME, only if 3 tie-breaker sessions) 15:30 GOLD MEDAL GAME (and BRONZE MEDAL GAME, only if 3 tie-breaker sessions) 18:00 CLOSING / AWARD CEREMONY at the venue 19:30 FAREWELL BANQUET at the athlete's hotel (Yuzhnoe Vzmorie ) Note: 1) First named teams in each draw play the stones with the dark coloured handles, and wear dark coloured upper playing garments. 2) First named teams have the 1st pre-game practice, except for the games marked with an * when a coin-toss will determine 1st and 2nd pre-game practice. 3) The two training sessions on 15 Feb. are for 15 minutes on each sheet, moving from A, to B, to C, to D and will be controlled by the umpires. IMPORTANT ACTIVITIES - 2013 WWhCC Fri. 15 Feb. 12:00 - 12:30 TEAM MEETING at the venue Fri. 15 Feb. 19:00 WELCOME RECEPTION at the athlete's hotel (Yuzhnoe Vzmorie ) Sat. 16 Feb. 15:00 - 15:20 OPENING CEREMONY at the venue Sat. 23 Feb. 18:00 CLOSING / AWARD CEREMONY at the venue Sat. 23 Feb. 19:30 FAREWELL BANQUET at the athlete's hotel (Yuzhnoe Vzmorie )

Forbes to represent province at national championship

From left: Terry Cousineau (fifth), Devin Forbes (mate), Keith Williams (second), Debbie Earle (lead), Bill Fletcher (coach) and Trendal Hubley-Bolivar (skip) will be representing Nova Scotia at the 2013 Canadian wheelchair curling championship

PICTOU – In his first full season of curling, Pictou’s Devin Forbes never expected to win a provincial championship or to be heading to a national championship.

Last weekend that was the case for Forbes, as his team captured the Nova Scotia championship being played at the Halifax Curling Club. The team is mostly based out of Lakeshore Curling Club in Lower Sackville, with Forbes being the lone member from outside the area. He said after taking part in a clinic at his home club, the New Caledonian Curling Club in Pictou, that instructors Trendal Hubley-Bolivar and Debbie Earle asked him to join their team.

“I said sure when they asked me to play because I didn’t have enough people around here to start up a team and I knew I’d learn a lot from them,” he said.

The team will travel to Ottawa in March for the 2013 Canadian wheelchair curling championship as the provincial representative. He said he has never won something with this much meaning to it and that he feels privileged to be a part of it.

“No, it wasn’t something I expected to happen at all and it was quite a surprise,” he said. “We curled really well and it was a shock to me to realize I will be going off to Ontario to participate in a national event. It took a little while for it to sink in.

“We just went into it with the knowledge that if we played our game the way we knew we could play that we would have a chance and we did that successfully.”

Forbes said what he has learned the most from his team this year is about the strategy after trying out the game last year and understanding the general aspects of it.

“I’ve learned a lot about the strategy, but also learned more technical parts to it to make me smoother and have better form,” he said. “I’ve gotten a lot better with my delivery as well as knowing what they’re going to be asking for.”

He also said that in preparing for the national event, in which Hubley-Bolivar and Earle have national experience, he’s now learning what to expect. Forbes said he will have to work at not getting distracted in a larger venue with more people around.

“They told me to expect a large number of wheelchair users, which is usually uncommon to see all in one place,” said Forbes. “It will be a larger venue with more people and will likely be a little louder as well. Other than that they said everything should be fine. Having been there before they will be relaxed and will help me to stay relaxed as well.

“I find it hard to keep focused at times – getting a little excited about everything going on – and just enjoy the atmosphere.”

Forbes said he couldn’t have done it without his family’s support. He said they helped him get to Halifax for games and practices throughout the season, which allowed him to have the opportunities he’s had.

He encourages others interested in trying curling to call the New Caledonian Curling Club and to get in touch with him through the club. He hopes more people will get out to try it in the future

Ontario Quest for the Gold list annouced

 

2012-2013 Quest for Gold – Ontario Athlete Assistance Program

Draft List of Ontario Card Nominations Announced!

The Ontario Curling Council is pleased to announce a draft list of athletes and alternates who have been nominated for Ontario Cards under the 2012-2013 Quest for Gold - Ontario Athlete Assistance Program (OAAP). The athletes nominated were selected using the sport specific selection criteria developed by the Ontario Curling Council, approved by its Board of Directors and applied by (the) Selection Committee.

Receiving “Full” cards will be the following:

Collinda Joseph Wheelchair

Shauna Petrie Wheelchair

Chris Rees Wheelchair

Ken Gregory Wheelchair

Full Card Alternates:

Kendra Lilly Older Junior Women

Mark Kean Older Junior Men

Jessica Armstrong Junior Women

Ben Bevan Junior Men

Denise Miault Wheelchair

Wayne Ficek Wheelchair