Charlotte McKenna and Gary Smith narrowly missed out on securing a home win as Stirling’s National Curling Academy (NCA) hosted international wheelchair mixed doubles for the first time, but there was satisfaction all round with the staging of an event which provided an invaluable opportunity for all participants.
The Scottish pair, one of four teams put out by British Curling, had beaten Latvia’s reigning world champions on their way to their meeting with Canada Red in the final and their performance was lauded by the champions. 
“It was great to play against them today,” said Colinda Joseph, who also won bronze at those world championships in Canada earlier this year, along with partner Dennis Thiessen.
“They were fantastic and it was back and forth, back and forth.”
The encounter underlined the importance of getting to grips with one of the special elements of mixed doubles play, with the decisive move coming when they used their powerplay to score a three at the penultimate end on their way to an 8-6 win.
“The powerplay made a really big difference,” said Joseph.
“They can be unpredictable, but we’ve worked really hard at it and it worked out.”
Having also participated in the Stirling Wheelchair International team event that had taken place in the neighbouring facility at The Peak earlier in the week, where Canada’s two teams finished in second and third place behind winners the USA, Joseph lauded both British Curling’s initiative in providing a rare chance to compete in the mixed doubles discipline that will be introduced to the Paralympics for the first time in 2026 and the venue.
“This is amazing,” she said.
“The fact that you can play in the skating arena or in here at the NCA is great, because it gives a lot of people opportunities and the facility is unbelievable.
“We don’t have anything like this in Canada because it’s the best practice for accessible curling rinks.
“It was a really good test playing on two different rinks and two different ice surfaces, which made it a good opportunity to learn and I love it here in Scotland.”
That sentiment was echoed by British Curling’s Head Paralympic Coach Sheila Swan who is constantly looking for competitive opportunities for her squad.
“There have been a couple of tournaments, so we’re going to try to build in more because we’ve got a lot to do not only in mixed doubles but in the team game as well where we’ve still not got an established world tour where we know what’s happening on an annual basis,” she observed.
“We always enjoy the Stirling Wheelchair Curling Invitational because it’s a great event and the committee there do a really good job organising it.
“We knew America and Canada were coming over to the team event, so it seemed to make sense to bolt this on and give people more opportunity to play some mixed doubles.
“There are very few opportunities out there for our players to get used to this discipline, so I’m pleased that we got this up and running this year.”
She was also pleased with the way the British Curling squad stepped up to the challenge.
“From a results point of view Charlotte (McKenna) and Gary (Smith) did a really great job,” she said.
“Charlie was at the World Championships earlier this year, but Gary’s very new to the mixed doubles discipline and after a bit of a shaky start they really rose to the challenge and they were nip and tuck all the way through the final with Canada having beaten the World Champions earlier in the tournament as well.
“We were able to put some novice pairings out there as well and Robert (McPherson) and Meggan (Dawson-Farrell) beat a really established mixed doubles pair from Norway, while Hugh (Nibloe) and Jo (Butterfield) took out some big scalps as well and then Ally Hopkins stepping in this week with Gregor (Ewan) warmed to the task all through the weekend.”
The whole week also provided an important opportunity for the England squad to gain competitive experience ahead of their involvement in the World B Championships in Finland next month as they try to earn a place alongside their Scottish counterparts at the main World Championships later in the season.
Rosemary Lenton and Stewart Pimblett beat compatriots Karen Aspey and Julian Aspey 10-5 in the low road final of the British Curling Mixed Doubles event after they had played together at the Stirling Invitational.
“Rosemary and Stewart had a really successful outing in Richmond at the World Mixed Doubles Championships in March and then Julian and Karen have never played mixed doubles before, so they did a really good job this weekend in getting to grips with it, learning when and how to play the discipline,” said Swan.
“It is still shot-making, but is slightly different tactically and they’re fairly new to the sport, so they were really learning on the job.
“I’m really pleased we’ve got this up and running and grateful to all the people who helped us pull it together.
“It wasn’t without some bumps in the road, but it all came together in the end and everybody’s gone home happy which is the main thing.”
Results: @CurlingZone
High Road Final:
Canada Red v British Curling 1 -8-6
Low Road Final:
England 1 v England 2 – 10-5
