As of today, the Moscow team is named the leader, while the Krasnodar Region team is among the outsiders. However, the current situation may undergo changes - let’s wait and see what will happen in the second round of competitions, which is due to take place this spring. The VoR correspondent Sofia Gordiyevskaya who watched the competitions in the Ice Cube Curling Centre reports:

"Wheelchair curling is often referred to as "chess on the ice". Wheelchair curling players are quiet and concentrated all the time they are on the ice. It is very important for every player to calculate both the force of his (her) throw and the trajectory of the stone’s movement. Equally important is to hit the target and to knock out the stone of his (her) rival. Out of 40 curling players who arrived in Sochi to take part in the championship, six are expected to take part in the Paralympic Games, including Svetlana Pakhomova."

"I’m determined to win, and I know that I must be well prepared for the Sochi Paralympics because victory demands sufficient efforts," she said.

Another candidate for the Sochi 2014 Winter Paralympics is Marat Romanov who is also determined to win there.

The Paralympic competitions, due to take place in the Ice Cube Curling Centre in Sochi, will start in March of 2014. By that time the ice cover will be renewed. Making curling ice is a complex process. At first the frost proof and the water proof concrete cover is cleared. Then the ice is frozen in layers and turns into white,and then the lines are marked. And one more thing of importance here. The ice in wheelchair curling must be very smooth. By the way, the arena of the Ice Cube Curling Centre is designed in a way which enables wheelchair curling competitors to feel comfortable. It has a big network of wheelchair ramps, lifts for people with disabilities, tactile paving, and special seats for wheelchair viewers, the head of the Sochi Olympic facility Yefim Zhidelev said:

"The Ice Cube Curling Centre is the only curling centre in the world which can host international competitions. And there is no doubt that wheelchair curling players will feel comfortable there."

The first round of the Russian Wheelchair Curling Championship is over in Sochi now. The points the players have gained there will be added to their results in the second round, which will be held in Sochi next spring. Russia’s best wheelchair curling team will be named on the final results. And immediately after the November competitions the Russian national team will start its preparations for the Sochi 2014 Paralympics.

Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/2013_11_20/Competitions-in-wheelchair-curling-over-in-Sochi-7648/?bottom=news