Russian wheelchair curling team named for North American tour

Posted on November 19, 2014 by Laura Hale in Wheelchair curling, Winter sports // 0 Comments

Earlier today, the Russian Paralympic Committee announced the wheelchair curling team selected to participate in a North American tour.  The curlers are Andrey Smirnov, Oksana Slesarenko, Alexander Shevchenko, Constantine Kurokhtin, Marat Romanov, and Svetlana Pakhomova.

The first stop for the team will be Richmond, Canada from November 20 to 23, where they will play in a tournament against Scotland, Canada, South Korea and Canadian club teams.  The team will then be off to Ottawa for the Cathy Kerr International Bonspiel.  From there, the team goes to Utica, New York for the US Open from December 5 to 7.

The team won a silver medal at the 2014 Winter Paralympics, losing out on gold to Canada. Smirnov, Shevchenko, Pakhomova, Romanov and Slesarenko were all part of that team, and the team that took gold at the 2012 World Wheelchair Curling Championship. Forty-one year old Smirnov is from the Sverdlovsk region. Forty-eight year old Romanov  is from the Chelyabinsk  region. Forty-nine year old Pakhomova is from Moscow. Forty-three year old Shevchenko is also from Moscow.  Forty-four year old Slesarenko is from Sverdlovsk.