Team England have made the perfect start to their preparations for the World B Championships in November by claiming the inaugural Flower Bowl Wheelchair Curling Open title at their season opener in Preston.
Up against a very strong domestic field, which saw the five members of the Scotland team which won a bronze medal at the World Wheelchair Curling Championship earlier this year spread across three British Curling representatives, Team England finished the round-robin competition with four wins from their five matches. 
That left them tied at the top of the table with British Curling 1, skipped by two-time Paralympian Hugh Nibloe, but Team England took the title as a result of winning the encounter between the two.
England skip Stewart Pimblett, another member of the British Curling squad, was delighted with the result at an event which was instituted to encourage the rapid growth of the sport south of the border, gaining support for wheelchair curling from Sport England for the first time, as well as from the English Curling Association (ECA) and from the English Wheelchair Curling Association (EWCA).
“It was a great result for a new line-up,” said the 54 year old.
“We have three new members in the England team and I am hugely impressed with how well everyone played, so I am feeling really confident and I think the future looks bright.
“Jason (Kean) played with British Curling 1, so all of us got game time which was great and we were all really well prepared for this event.
“Getting ice time over the summer at The Flower Bowl has helped us massively as this is the only venue of this type in England offering year round ice, so a huge thank you to its owner Guy Topping and his team for helping to get us competition ready.
“The local line-up from Preston were the only team that beat us and we really stepped up after that.
“We learned a big lesson and really dug in and came out with the overall win. Our coaches Tony and Rosemary (Lenton) have worked hard coaching us over the summer and their experience has been really helpful to us. 
“This event has given us all a great foundation to build on as we get ready for the World B’s. It has surpassed my expectations and I am feeling very optimistic about our future goals with this new team.”
England will head to the World B Wheelchair Curling Championships in Kisakallio, Finland in November (4-11) to earn promotion to the top flight alongside Scotland.
Teams:
BC1
Hugh Nibloe
Gary Smith
Jason Kean
Charlotte McKenna
BC2
Gregor Ewan
Gary Logan
Meggan Dawson-Farrell
Jean Guild
BC3
Martin Sutherland
Jo Butterfield
Daniel Cowan
Alison Cloudsley
England
Stewart Pimblett
Julian Mattison
George Potts
Karen Aspey
Preston Wheelchair Curling Club
Paul Simmons
Jonathan Makin
Michael Shaw
Linda Hartley
Northern Ice Wheelchair Team
Stephen McGarry
David Melrose
Ray Cross
Norma McGarry
Images: Duncan Johnson
