England will make their bid to join the wheelchair curling elite later this season when they compete in the World Wheelchair B Championships in Finland this weekend (Sunday 3 – Friday 8 November).
Stewart Pimblett, George Potts, Julian Mattison, Karen Aspey and Jason Kean will be among 11 teams competing in Lohja for the last three places in the line-up at the World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Stevenston, Scotland next year and their skip believes they are ready for the challenge.
“It is a busy schedule with two games every day and the training and support at the National Curling Academy in Stirling has helped us massively,” said Pimblett.
“I feel like the team is in a good place and working alongside the British Curling squad has been great as they have helped and encouraged us along the way. 
“It still feels quite early in our season and to be at this event we do feel that we deserve to be here and Tony and Rosemary Lenton, our coaches, have worked so hard to get us ready for this.
“They are a massive part of our team and it would be great to make them proud this week.”
The team has some knowledge of what they will be up against when facing Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Japan, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, USA and Hong Kong China, but they are looking to concentrate on their owns strengths and performance.
“We have competed against about 50% of the teams here but they might have made changes to their line-ups so we really need to focus on us and what we can do and what we believe we can achieve and what the coaches have drilled into us,” Pimblett continued.
“We will approach each game the same regardless of who we are facing and we know we have some tough games coming up but we are ready for it.
“We are still quite a new team and although I have been in this game for 14 years the standard is always changing, however I feel very confident in the whole team and we are all so driven to succeed and we have come here with one goal and that is to achieve qualification for the Worlds in March, so hopefully as a team we will do the job.
“It would mean everything to get that spot and compete in Scotland.
“We all have very supportive families that are pushing us all the way and it would mean many of them would be able to come and watch us which would be really nice. 
“We know how hard we have worked over the past year and it would be good if it could pay off in a big way and they could get to witness that too.
Since much of the squad’s training takes place in Scotland, that prospect of competing at a World Championship north of the border in a field which also includes their British Curling training partners from Scotland, provides an added incentive, but for Pimblett there will also be a sense of familiarity at the World Bs.
“The venue in Finland does feel like my second home,” he said.
“My brother lives here so it is nice to see family, but that said I would be pleased not to come back here next year for the B event!
“The facility however is brilliant and the ice is always fantastic and everything we need to do is accessible so we do love coming here and we hope it is a good week for us this time.”
England Team
Stewart Pimblett
George Potts
Julian Mattison
Karen Aspey
Jason Kean
Tony Lenton – England Coach
Rosemary Lenton – England Assistant Coach
Sheila Swan – British Curling Paralympic Head Coach
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Images: PPA/Graeme Hart.
