World Wheelchair Curling Championship

Korea and Norway contested the final of the World Wheelchair Championship in Sursee. Norway's Rune Lorentsen was the defending champion and held last stone coming down the final end 3-2 ahead. A miss gave Korea's Hak Sung Kim and his team another chance in an extra, but they could not get a stone hidden. Norway had won the 2008 title.

The United States won bronze when their team skipped by Augusto Perez beat Canada's Gerry Austgarden 8-1.

You can find all the results here, and stories here and here. And you can see Nadine Saager's photos of the event here.

World Wheelchair Curling Championship

Scotland beat Canada in the last round of the World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Sursee, and by doing so avoided being relegated and having to face the qualifying competition to get back into the world event next season.

With one game of the round robin still to play, Michael McCreadie and his team of Aileen Neilson, Tom Killin, Jim Sellar and Rosemary Lenton were bottom of the table jointly with Japan and Russia on two wins and six losses. All three countries won their final games, giving them a round robin record of three wins and six losses. Switzerland also finished with the same 3-6 record.

On the basis of who had beaten who, Russia was placed in tenth place. The oher three teams had all defeated each other, so ranking was decided by the teams' draw shot challenge distances, carried out before the competition got fully underway. Scotland had the best distance (worked out on all four players making one draw to the circles) of 328 cm. Switzerland had 525 cm and Japan 598 cm. So, 73 cm means that Japan gets relegated, loses Olympic qualifying points and the country has the expense of travelling halfway round the world to play in the qualifying competition at Inverness next season. (Added at 14.45. Apparently the wheelchair qualifiers next season are in Prague. Apologies, Bob)

Am I alone in thinking that this is wrong? Surely the use of draw shot challenge distances to decide ranking should not mean that you are eliminated/relegated when you won the same number of games as other competitors? No, something is wrong. The WCF rulebook states clearly that a team tied for a place in the play-offs is not eliminated in any way other than by losing an extra game. But apparently this does not apply to ties at the bottom of the table when relegation is a possibility. So, in Sursee, DSC distance alone determined not only that Scotland finished ranked seventh, but that Japan was ninth, and consequently relegated. Should draw shot challenges be that important? I don't believe they should.

At the top of the table Korea, Canada, Norway, Italy and USA are still in the hunt for the world title. Follow the results here. And for more details of the action check out wheelchaircurling.com here.

The pic above shows Michael McCreadie in action alongside Rosemary Lenton and Jim Sellar. WCF photo by George Karrys.

Sursee update

Have you been following the results from the World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Sursee? It's not made easy reading for the Scottish fan, nor, I suspect, has it been a happy time for the squad there in Switzerland. Scotland have won just two games from seven, and are propping up the bottom of the table with Japan and Russia. Read about the event here and here.

Michael McCreadie's side must win their next games tomorrow against Norway and Canada if we are to avoid relegation and have to prequalify for the World Championships next year. Looking to the future, Scotland gained eight Olympic qualifying points by reason of McCreadie's bronze place last year. Will these be enough to ensure Scotland's - and Britain's - place in the Vancouver Paralympics? I don't know.

But let's wish the team and their support staff the best of luck in their remaining games in Sursee.

The word is that the standard of play is better than in previous years. That's shown in the stats produced by Curlit for the competition. Average team stats for the first seven games show Scotland in fifth place, but of course it's the game results that count, not the stats.

World Wheelchair Curling Championship

It all begins for Scotland's wheelchair curlers tomorrow, Saturday. Michael McCreadie (left), Aileen Neilson, Tom Killin, Jim Sellar and Rosemary Lenton play the host nation Switzerland in the evening first round game. The Swiss skip is Manfred Bollinger, who was runner-up in 2007.

You can follow the results here.

The final is February 9. The International Paralympic Committee is set to broadcast some of the semifinals and finals. For details check www.paralympicsport.tv.

Scotland's wheelchair curlers head for Sursee

Michael McCreadie, Aileen Neilson, Tom Killin, Jim Sellar and Rosemary Lenton set off for the World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Sursee, Switzerland, tomorrow (Tuesday). The Scots official practice is on Saturday morning and their first game is against the host nation, Switzerland, on Saturday at 6pm. Scotland's last round robin game is against Canada. Medal games are on Saturday, February 9.

See Curling Today's previous post about the Scotland team here.

You will be able to find the draw and all the results here. Good to see Curlit being the results service provider again! For more on wheelchair curling don't forget to check out wheelchaircurling.com, particularly the News pages.

Team Scotland. L-R: Michael McCreadie, Aileen Neilson, Tom Killin, Jim Sellar and Rosemary Lenton. Photo courtesy of Tom Pendreigh.