Victory over title contenders Korea saw England finish their World Wheelchair Curling Championships campaign in style in Stevenston as they secured their place at next year’s event having earned their promotion to the top flight earlier this season.
The opportunity for Stewart Pimblett, Jason Kean, Julian Mattison, Karen Aspey and Jean Guild to compete at the Auchenharvie Leisure Centre this week had been won in dramatic fashion when they claimed the bronze medal at the World B Championships in November. 
The man who threw the decisive stone in that match was consequently jubilant as Pimblett assessed how his team had proved themselves on their step up and reflected on the season as a whole and the contribution of teammate George Potts who had been forced to drop out of this event through illness.
“I think we have been under pressure all week just to stay here… to prove to the world of curling that we deserve to be here,” said England’s skip.
“I am so proud of the team. They have all got behind me skipping, they have all got belief in me and I certainly, certainly believe in them.
“We are going to be contending for medals and we have got a great team and Geordie Potts is another one who can come into this team and strengthen it even more.
“I see so much potential in them and they get me over the line.
“I am putting guards up for their exceptional play and I think we do deserve to be here and I am very excited.
“I ride my luck sometimes but we would not be here without Sport England and also the help from British Curling and all of their support and the great coaches and Tony and Rosemary (Lenton) have done an amazing job.”
A record of five wins and six losses left his team tied with British Curling colleagues Scotland, the host nation finishing a place higher in the rankings as a result of winning their head-to-head encounter with both just missing out on the top six spots which would have taken them into the play-offs.
Pimblett was a model of generosity, however, in recognising the different pressures that their Scotland counterparts had been under as the team charged with securing the points necessary for qualification for next year’s Paralympics, noting that the success of Hugh Nibloe, Gary Smith, Austin McKenzie, Jo Butterfield and Keith Gray in doing so now provides an extra incentive for the entire British Curling squad.
“I think Scotland have done a great job this week because they were under pressure,” he said.
“I think Shug (Scotland skip Nibloe) has skipped amazing games throughout this week and I think they have all played well with new players… Austin (McKenzie) and it was great to see Keith (Gray) get his first cap.
“But what a squad we have got in Great Britain.
“The next few months look very interesting and I think the selectors have a hard job in front of them, because they have got some talent there.”
The rigours of the week were perhaps reflected in Scotland’s back-to-back losses on the final day, their 5-2 loss to Norway leaving them with what was effectively a winner take all final round-robin match which Slovakia won 11-6.
Like Scotland and England the Slovakians finished on a record of five wins and six losses, but having beaten both the British teams, they finished above them on the basis of head-to-head records.
Disappointed as he was, Scotland skip Nibloe - who will be back in action in the mixed doubles with compatriot Charlotte McKenna next week - echoed Pimblett’s sentiments as he looked back on this week’s campaign which ended for both teams on the day that marked one year to go to the Winter Paralympics in Milan-Cortina.
“We didn’t make the play-offs, but we’ve had a lot of good wins this week and there’s a lot of promise,” he said.
“I’ve still got mixed doubles next week and I think the team can now look forward to the Paralympics.
“England have done a great job this week, too finishing on five and six as well.
“They’ve done remarkably well and it’s great that British Curling is going to have seven new athletes in it that have played at World Championships A level, all competing for spots for the Paralympics next season, so one year to go and hopefully it’s going to be an exciting one and an exciting build-up.
“We’ve learned a lot, including making a lot of mistakes that we’ve learned a lot from and we’ll be back on ice in April and firing to get the spots for the Paralympics.”
The four player team event finishes on March 8 and, along with Scotland’s Nibloe and McKenna, England’s Pimblett and Aspey will then compete in the Mixed Doubles from March 11-16.
Please click here for results.
Feature games are as follows:
7th March - Qualifier - 10:00
7th March - Semi - 18:00
8th March - Bronze - 10:00
8th March - Gold - 14:30
Day One
Saturday 1 March
Scotland – China 3-2
England – Latvia 5-8
England – Norway (EE) 6-8
Day Two
Sunday 2 March
Scotland – Japan 7-5
England – USA 10-1
Scotland – USA (EE) 5-6
Day Three
Monday 3 March
England – China 1-6
Scotland – Korea 7-1
Scotland – Sweden 5-9
England – Italy 6-4
Day Four
Tuesday 4 March
England – Canada 10-5
Scotland – Canada 6-12
Scotland – England 7-5
Day Five
Wednesday 5 March
Scotland – Latvia 9-4
England – Sweden 7-6
Scotland – Italy 4-7
England – Slovakia 2-10
Day Six
Thursday 6 March
Scotland – Norway 2-5
England – Japan 4-7
England – Korea 7-5
Scotland – Slovakia 6-11
Day Seven
Friday 7 March
Qualification games – 10.00
Semi Finals – 18.00
Day Eight
Saturday 8 March
Bronze Medal Match – 10.00
Gold Medal Match – 14.30
Scotland Team
Hugh Nibloe (skip)
Gary Smith
Austin McKenzie (vice skip)
Jo Butterfield
Keith Gray (alternate)
Scotland Mixed Doubles Team
Hugh Nibloe (skip)
Charlotte McKenna
Coaches:
Head Coach: Sheila Swan
Team Coach: Niall Ryder
England Team
Stewart Pimblett skip
Karen Aspey
Julian Mattison
Jason Kean
Jean Guild (alternate)
England Mixed Doubles Team
Stewart Pimblett skip
Karen Aspey
Coaches:
Head Coach: Tony Lenton
Coach: Rosemary Lenton
Coach: Luke Carson
For more information on our Paralympic Pathway Programme and opportunities please email: Cheryl.lappin@britishcurling.org.uk
Images: @tdf_photography3
