[ritchiebaby]

These Championships open on Friday 9 November somewhere in Finland - Kisakallio Sports Institute in Lohja - and end on Thursday 15 November with the Semi-finals and Medal Games. There are two Groups with the eventual medal winners qualifying for the World Championships in Scotland from 3 to 10 March. Already qualified are Norway, Russia, Scotland, China, Canada, Korea, United States, Switzerland and Germany.

Group A: Czech Republic, England, Estonia, Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia and Turkey.
Group B: Denmark, Finland, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.
The two first-placed teams in each Group will progress straight to the Semi-finals. A qualification round will be played between the team in second place in Group A and third place in Group B and also between the teams that are third in Group A and second in Group B to make up the other Semi-finalists.

The English team is - Fourth: Edward Bidgood, Third: Stewart Pimblett, Second: Michael Shaw and Lead: Rosemary Lenton, who will also skip the side. They will play Czech Republic on Friday, Estonia on Saturday, Italy and Turkey on Sunday, Slovenia on Monday and Slovakia on Tuesday. With a bit of luck they'll be involved later on as well.


I will be keeping only half an eye on this, so don't expect a post every day.

[St Charles Owl]

That has to be a tough sport for someone in a wheelchair!!! Am I right in thinking they push the stone with a brush of some form rather than bending over their chair to push it? And how do they do the sweeping and avoiding stones in the end zone?

[ritchiebaby]

Nearly right, SCO. They use a "curling delivery aid", more commonly known as a stick, because that's exactly what it is - a stick with a hoojy/whatdyecallit at the end of it which slots over the handle of the stone.

It's not only used by wheelchair curlers but also by old codgers like me, who can't get down to the fancy sliding technique any more. In common with many others, I wouldn't be able to continue curling without it.

As far as sweeping and avoiding stones are concerned the answer is easy. They stay well out of the way. There's no sweeping and it can be argued that wheelchair curling is more skilful because the end result is all down to the player, no-one else.

[ritchiebaby]

England's campaign started off badly, losing 4-9 to Czech Republic, mainly due to losing 5 shots in the 2nd end. They weren't much better in their second game, losing to Estonia by 3 shots to 8. Although slowly getting better, they lost 4-6 against Italy this morning, then turned it around completely, demolishing Turkey 11-2 tonight.

They currently lie 6th in Group A and must win their remaining two games to finish in a qualifying position. Unfortunately the last one is against unbeaten Slovakia on Tuesday. The only slight consolation is that tomorrow's opponents, 4th placed Slovenia, have also to play Slovakia and that Czech Republic in 2nd place and 3rd placed Estonia still have to play each other. Equally unfortunately, England will depend on both Italy and Turkey beating both Czech Republic and Estonia in their remaining games   .

[ritchiebaby]

England did their bit today by winning 10-6 against Slovenia, but sadly Italy and Turkey failed with their part of the bargain, although Italy battled all the way to an extra end against Estonia.

[ritchiebaby]

All chances are gone as England fall 4-7 to Slovakia in their final game. The fact that Italy did everything they could by beating Turkey 12-3 and Czech Republic 7-4 meant little in the final reckoning.

In the Qualifying Games, Finland beat Czech Republic 10-3 after scoring 7 shots in the first 3 ends, and Estonia beat Sweden by 9-6. The Semi-finals are now Estonia v Latvia and Finland v Slovakia tomorrow morning, with the Medal Games in the afternoon.

[ritchiebaby]

And semi-finally,

Estonia beat Latvia 4-3 with a 1 at the last end and Slovakia beat Finland 9-5 by scoring 4 shots in the 7th end.

And finally,

Estonia won the Gold Medal, courtesy of a run of 7 shots in 3 ends against Slovakia, to win 7 shots to 3. The Bronze Medal was won by Latvia after a strong fightback by Finland, the final score being 6-5.

The 2019 Wheelchair Championships will be held in Stirling, Scotland from 3 to 10 March 2019 with Estonia, Slovakia and Latvia joining the already qualified Norway, Russia, Scotland, China, Canada, Korea, United States, Switzerland and Germany.