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Saturday, February 7, 2015
World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2015 Day 1 Roundup
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Canada loses to China in opening round!
In what some would say is a surprising result Canada lost to China in the opening round of the 2015 World Wheelchair Curling Championships being held in Lohja, Finland.
Canada has a new lineup heading into the championships after long time skip Jim Armstrong experienced medical issues forcing him to sit out this go around. New to the top spot Mark Ideson took the team into this mornings game. The game seemed with in reach each end for Canada and Ideson called a strong game.
Ice conditions seemed to be very swingy and the team never really seemed to get into the grove. However, 1 loss is just that 1 loss as the week has just started and this time has long dominated the wheelchair curling circle since the beginning!
Check out our Worlds coverage by clicking at the top of the page!
Friday, February 6, 2015
Scotland wheelchair curlers start 2018 Paralympic journey
By Elizabeth Hudson
BBC Sport
After their
Winter Paralympic bronze last year while representing Great Britain, the
Scotland wheelchair curling team are ready to start on the road to Pyeongchang
2018.
The World Championship, which starts in Finland on Saturday, opens the
qualification process for the Games. "As soon as we stepped off the ice in Sochi, Pyeongchang was our next goal," skip Aileen Neilson told BBC Sport.
"We want to get qualification points as soon as possible."
Neilson, 43, who recently extended her career break as a school teacher, will be part of of the Scotland team along with fellow Sochi medallists Angie Malone, Gregor Ewan and Jim Gault.
Stranraer-based Hugh Nibloe completes the line-up for what will be his major competition debut in the team which will be coached by Tony Zummack.
GB's record at the World Wheelchair Curling Championship | |
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2007: Bronze | |
2008: Seventh | |
2009: Eighth | |
2011: Silver | |
2012: Seventh | |
2013: Sixth |
"We want to accrue those points quickly so it is important for us to work hard and secure our place."
The team start their programme against Germany, Sweden, China, Russia, Norway, Canada, Slovakia, the United States and Finland before the knock-out phase starts on Thursday.
While the bronze medal, secured in a dramatic 7-3 play-off against China, helped raise the profile of the sport in Britain, Zummack knows his side need to continue to work hard to remain medal contenders on the world stage.
"The bar is being set high and we know we have to put in the same amount of work as the Sochi gold and silver medallists Canada and Russia to make sure we keep in touch with them and improve," he said.
"The bronze is great but it is already in the past and we need to evaluate where we go in the future.
"In Finland it will be about going in and being more consistent with what we do. If we win a medal, that would be great, but the play-offs is the aim so we can look at our technical execution and our tactical awareness and see how that develops."
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Coverage of the 2015 Worlds (See top page)
In order to better cover the 2015 Worlds we have created it very own page. We will be posting in order the sessions of the Worlds including pictures, video and results.
2015 World Wheelchair Curling Championships are getting underway on Saturday
05.02.2015
Paralympic and world champions Canada are looking to add a fourth title to their collection.
Canada's Sonja Gaudet led her team to a second consecutive wheelchair curling Paralympic gold medal at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games. © • Getty Images |
Play begins at the 2015 World Wheelchair Curling Championships on Saturday (7 February) at the Kisakallio Sports Institute in Lohja, Finland.
Ten mixed national teams will compete in the event, which marks the start of the qualification process for the wheelchair curling competition at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games.
The Championships open with a round-robin running from 7-11 February.
Thereafter, one round of tie-breaker games will be played on Thursday, 12 February.
The semi-final will then take place at 9:00 on Friday, 13 February, followed by both the bronze and gold medal games at 14:00 local time.
These are the first World Wheelchair Curling Championships since the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.
Many of the athletes who competed in Russia will return to represent their country in Finland. They include reigning World and Paralympic champions Canada, winners of this event on three occasions (2009, 2011 and 2013).
This year they will be skipped by Mark Ideson (lead), along with fellow Paralympic and World Championship gold medallists Ina Forrest (fourth), Dennis Thiessen (third) and three-time Paralympic gold medal winner Sonja Gaudet (second). They will be joined by Marie Wright as alternate.
Russia return with the same team who won the World Wheelchair Curling Championships in 2012 and then picked up the Paralympic silver medal in Sochi last year.
The team is comprised of Andrey Smirnov (skip), Marat Romanov (third), Oxana Slesarenko (second), Alexander Shevchenko (lead) and Svetlana Pakhomova (alternate).
Great Britain won the bronze medal at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games. They were represented by a team from Scotland, with four members of that team returning to challenge for the 2015 world title.
They include Aileen Neilson, the only female skip in the field; Gregor Ewan (third); Jim Gault (second) and Angie Malone (lead). They will be supported by alternate Hugh Nibloe.
China were runners up in the bronze medal game at the Sochi 2014 Paralympics, finishing in fourth place. They are represented by the exact same team this year, with 2012 and 2013 World Wheelchair Curling Championships bronze medallist HaiTao Wang (skip) along with Wei Liu (third); Qiang Zhang (second); GuangQin Xu (lead) and Jun He (alternate).
Sweden finished with the silver medals in the last World Wheelchair Curling Championships in 2013 after losing out to Canada.
Two-time Paralympic Games bronze medallist (2006 and 2010) and two time World Championship silver medallist (2009 and 2013), Jalle Jungell, returns to skip Sweden.
He skips a team that includes three of the athletes that finished in seventh position at the Sochi 2014 Paralympics – Patrik Kallin (third); Kristina Ulander (lead) and Zandra Reppe (alternate).
They are joined this year by Ronny Persson (second), a Paralympic bronze medallist in the downhill skiing competitions at both the 1998 Nagano and 2002 Salt Lake City Paralympic Winter Games.
USA will again be represented by skip Patrick McDonald and almost the same team who earned a fourth place finish in the World Wheelchair Curling Championships in 2013.
At last year’s Paralympics, four members of this team - Patrick McDonald (skip); James (Jimmy) Joseph (second); Penny Greely (lead) and Meghan Lino (alternate), finished in fifth place. For this year’s Championships they are joined by third Stephen Emt.
Slovakia made their World Wheelchair Curling Championships debut three years ago and skip Radoslav Duris returns with the same team that performed well in both the 2012 and 2013 World Championships. He skipped them to a sixth place finish at the Paralympics last year.
His team consists of Branislav Jakubec (third); Dusan Pitonak (second); Monika Kunkelova (lead) and Imrich Lyocsa will be alternate.
Finland, skipped by Markku Karjalainen, qualified for their first World Wheelchair Curling Championships in 2013 where they finished in eighth position before making their Paralympic debut in 2014 where they finished 10th.
Lining up alongside Karjalainen in his team this year is Sari Karjalainen (third); Mina Mojtahedi (second); Tuomo Aarnikka (lead) and Vesa Leppanen (alternate).
Norway return with 2007 and 2008 world champion skip Rune Lorentsen after they won the World Wheelchair Curling Qualification event in Lillehammer in November 2014.
He skips a team that includes Jostein Stordahl (third); Ole Fredrik Syversen (second); Sissel Loechen (lead) and Gina Kristin Broendbo (alternate).
Germany were the other team to qualify from the qualification event in Norway last November. They will be skipped by Jens Jaeger, a World Wheelchair Curling Championships bronze medallist in 2009.
His team also includes Christiane Putzich (third); Martin Schlitt (second); Heike Melchior (lead) and Robert Hering (alternate).
Results, news and photos from the World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2015 can be seen on the World Curling Federation’s official event website
The local organising committee, in cooperation with the Finnish Curling Association, will be webstreaming some games from the World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2015. For more details, visit World Wheelchair Curling Championships website.
Ten mixed national teams will compete in the event, which marks the start of the qualification process for the wheelchair curling competition at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games.
The Championships open with a round-robin running from 7-11 February.
Thereafter, one round of tie-breaker games will be played on Thursday, 12 February.
The semi-final will then take place at 9:00 on Friday, 13 February, followed by both the bronze and gold medal games at 14:00 local time.
These are the first World Wheelchair Curling Championships since the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.
Many of the athletes who competed in Russia will return to represent their country in Finland. They include reigning World and Paralympic champions Canada, winners of this event on three occasions (2009, 2011 and 2013).
This year they will be skipped by Mark Ideson (lead), along with fellow Paralympic and World Championship gold medallists Ina Forrest (fourth), Dennis Thiessen (third) and three-time Paralympic gold medal winner Sonja Gaudet (second). They will be joined by Marie Wright as alternate.
Russia return with the same team who won the World Wheelchair Curling Championships in 2012 and then picked up the Paralympic silver medal in Sochi last year.
The team is comprised of Andrey Smirnov (skip), Marat Romanov (third), Oxana Slesarenko (second), Alexander Shevchenko (lead) and Svetlana Pakhomova (alternate).
Great Britain won the bronze medal at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games. They were represented by a team from Scotland, with four members of that team returning to challenge for the 2015 world title.
They include Aileen Neilson, the only female skip in the field; Gregor Ewan (third); Jim Gault (second) and Angie Malone (lead). They will be supported by alternate Hugh Nibloe.
China were runners up in the bronze medal game at the Sochi 2014 Paralympics, finishing in fourth place. They are represented by the exact same team this year, with 2012 and 2013 World Wheelchair Curling Championships bronze medallist HaiTao Wang (skip) along with Wei Liu (third); Qiang Zhang (second); GuangQin Xu (lead) and Jun He (alternate).
Sweden finished with the silver medals in the last World Wheelchair Curling Championships in 2013 after losing out to Canada.
Two-time Paralympic Games bronze medallist (2006 and 2010) and two time World Championship silver medallist (2009 and 2013), Jalle Jungell, returns to skip Sweden.
He skips a team that includes three of the athletes that finished in seventh position at the Sochi 2014 Paralympics – Patrik Kallin (third); Kristina Ulander (lead) and Zandra Reppe (alternate).
They are joined this year by Ronny Persson (second), a Paralympic bronze medallist in the downhill skiing competitions at both the 1998 Nagano and 2002 Salt Lake City Paralympic Winter Games.
USA will again be represented by skip Patrick McDonald and almost the same team who earned a fourth place finish in the World Wheelchair Curling Championships in 2013.
At last year’s Paralympics, four members of this team - Patrick McDonald (skip); James (Jimmy) Joseph (second); Penny Greely (lead) and Meghan Lino (alternate), finished in fifth place. For this year’s Championships they are joined by third Stephen Emt.
Slovakia made their World Wheelchair Curling Championships debut three years ago and skip Radoslav Duris returns with the same team that performed well in both the 2012 and 2013 World Championships. He skipped them to a sixth place finish at the Paralympics last year.
His team consists of Branislav Jakubec (third); Dusan Pitonak (second); Monika Kunkelova (lead) and Imrich Lyocsa will be alternate.
Finland, skipped by Markku Karjalainen, qualified for their first World Wheelchair Curling Championships in 2013 where they finished in eighth position before making their Paralympic debut in 2014 where they finished 10th.
Lining up alongside Karjalainen in his team this year is Sari Karjalainen (third); Mina Mojtahedi (second); Tuomo Aarnikka (lead) and Vesa Leppanen (alternate).
Norway return with 2007 and 2008 world champion skip Rune Lorentsen after they won the World Wheelchair Curling Qualification event in Lillehammer in November 2014.
He skips a team that includes Jostein Stordahl (third); Ole Fredrik Syversen (second); Sissel Loechen (lead) and Gina Kristin Broendbo (alternate).
Germany were the other team to qualify from the qualification event in Norway last November. They will be skipped by Jens Jaeger, a World Wheelchair Curling Championships bronze medallist in 2009.
His team also includes Christiane Putzich (third); Martin Schlitt (second); Heike Melchior (lead) and Robert Hering (alternate).
Results, news and photos from the World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2015 can be seen on the World Curling Federation’s official event website
The local organising committee, in cooperation with the Finnish Curling Association, will be webstreaming some games from the World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2015. For more details, visit World Wheelchair Curling Championships website.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Bax, Denys win provincial title, aim for national championship in wheelchair curling
Carl Bax (left) and Alec Denys are looking forward to representing the Peterborough Curling Club at the Canadian wheelchair curling championship in Boucherville, Que. at the end of April. Dale Clifford/Peterborough Examiner/QMI Agency |
Carl Bax has another shot and would like to reach the Promised Land this time around.
Bax, a 63-year-old curler from the Peterborough Curling Club (PCC), is the vice on a crew playing under that banner heading to the Canadian wheelchair curling championship in Boucherville, Que. from April 27 to May 2.
Along with club mate Alec Denys, who is lead and the same age, skip Chris Rees and second Martha Gustafson out of the Toronto Cricket Skate and Curling Club, they qualified for the national stage by winning the Ontario championship in late, thrilling hard-fought fashion in Cambridge on Friday.
They edged Ottawa Valley’s Collinda Joseph 8-7 with a dramatic steal in the eighth and final end of the final. They finished undefeated at 5-0, including 4-0 in the five-team round-robin.
This is Bax’s fifth trip to the Canadian championship, the last coming in 2011, and he has come home with a silver medal and two bronze. They included trips to Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Ottawa.
“It would be nice to do it and bring the Canadian banner here (to the PCC),’’ said Bax, who played in club senior men’s tag draw play with Denys on Monday morning. “We have been practising hard and looking forward to it.’’
Bax, out of Peterborough, has competed at the provincial championship 11 times, Denys, from Warsaw, five and has been with Rees since 2005. Denys joined the team for the 2010-11 season, is going to his second nationals, and Gustafson is in her second year with the group. Bax and Denys, also an accomplished archer with Paralympic experience, are sponsored by Liberty Tax Service and supported by the club. They also curl in a competitive men’s league.
“We will have to curl really well,’’ added Denys. “We curled against good teams in the Ontario championship and will be facing even better teams in Quebec.’’
There are 10 teams vying for the national title, including one from Northern Ontario and one from Newfoundland and Labrador. Every province but Prince Edward Island is represented. They play a nine-game round-robin, facing each team once, before the playoff round begins.
Bax said there were a couple of reasons for the team’s success.
“Chris is very talented and sees the ice really well,’’ he said. “We moved Alec to lead and is the best lead we have ever had.’’
The team has a spare in Karen Van Nest, who is from Wiarton, and coach in Tom Ward, who hails from Toronto. They were the only team without a coach in Galt but are required to have one at the national level.
“We are knowledgeable enough about the game, trust each other and get along well,’’ added Bax. “We make decisions quickly.’’
The PCC foursome was put to the test in Galt and had to work hard to win the crown and move on.
“It was a nail biter right to the end,’’ said Bax. “It looked grim for a while and there was a sense of disbelief when it was over.’’
Denys added: “It could have gone either way.’’
Bax said while it would be great to win the national championship, it wasn’t the only thing that made it a big event.
“We are like one big family and it will be great to see everybody again,’’ he said. “There is camaraderie.’’
dale.clifford@sunmedia.ca
Bax, a 63-year-old curler from the Peterborough Curling Club (PCC), is the vice on a crew playing under that banner heading to the Canadian wheelchair curling championship in Boucherville, Que. from April 27 to May 2.
Along with club mate Alec Denys, who is lead and the same age, skip Chris Rees and second Martha Gustafson out of the Toronto Cricket Skate and Curling Club, they qualified for the national stage by winning the Ontario championship in late, thrilling hard-fought fashion in Cambridge on Friday.
They edged Ottawa Valley’s Collinda Joseph 8-7 with a dramatic steal in the eighth and final end of the final. They finished undefeated at 5-0, including 4-0 in the five-team round-robin.
This is Bax’s fifth trip to the Canadian championship, the last coming in 2011, and he has come home with a silver medal and two bronze. They included trips to Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Ottawa.
“It would be nice to do it and bring the Canadian banner here (to the PCC),’’ said Bax, who played in club senior men’s tag draw play with Denys on Monday morning. “We have been practising hard and looking forward to it.’’
Bax, out of Peterborough, has competed at the provincial championship 11 times, Denys, from Warsaw, five and has been with Rees since 2005. Denys joined the team for the 2010-11 season, is going to his second nationals, and Gustafson is in her second year with the group. Bax and Denys, also an accomplished archer with Paralympic experience, are sponsored by Liberty Tax Service and supported by the club. They also curl in a competitive men’s league.
“We will have to curl really well,’’ added Denys. “We curled against good teams in the Ontario championship and will be facing even better teams in Quebec.’’
There are 10 teams vying for the national title, including one from Northern Ontario and one from Newfoundland and Labrador. Every province but Prince Edward Island is represented. They play a nine-game round-robin, facing each team once, before the playoff round begins.
Bax said there were a couple of reasons for the team’s success.
“Chris is very talented and sees the ice really well,’’ he said. “We moved Alec to lead and is the best lead we have ever had.’’
The team has a spare in Karen Van Nest, who is from Wiarton, and coach in Tom Ward, who hails from Toronto. They were the only team without a coach in Galt but are required to have one at the national level.
“We are knowledgeable enough about the game, trust each other and get along well,’’ added Bax. “We make decisions quickly.’’
The PCC foursome was put to the test in Galt and had to work hard to win the crown and move on.
“It was a nail biter right to the end,’’ said Bax. “It looked grim for a while and there was a sense of disbelief when it was over.’’
Denys added: “It could have gone either way.’’
Bax said while it would be great to win the national championship, it wasn’t the only thing that made it a big event.
“We are like one big family and it will be great to see everybody again,’’ he said. “There is camaraderie.’’
dale.clifford@sunmedia.ca
World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2016 to be held in Lucerne, Switzerland
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A MUST see shot by Chris Rees to win OCA playdowns
Check out this shot by Chris Rees and team to win the Wheelchair Provincial championship! He was tied coming home without last rock and this shot secured the steal! And remember - this was done with no sweeping! Congratulations!
Wagner WINS Swiss National Title
Felix Wagner (skip of Swiss National Team) with his Wetzikon rink Marcel Bodenmann (Third), Harry Pavel (Second) and Marlise Schwitter (Lead) won the national title this past weekend on Wagner's home ice.
Second
after the round robin, the team won the semifinal against Lausanne (Eric
Décorvet) 7:5 and the final 7:6 against Bern, with former world champion 2002
Manfred Bolliger as skip.
on the
picture from left:
Submitted by Stephan Pfister
National trainer and Verantwortlicher Nachwuchs
Rollstuhl-Curling
Felix Wagner (Skip), Marcel Bodenmann (Third), Harry Pavel (Second), Marlise Schwitter (Lead). |
Monday, February 2, 2015
World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2015 begins Saturday
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