Scotland have put a difficult opening day behind them to claim two wins that got their World Wheelchair Championship campaign up and running with contrasting wins over Sweden and Denmark.
A 6-4 loss to Korea, followed by a 7-4 defeat at the hands of the USA had been disappointing, but as debutant Jo Butterfield observed, their response demonstrated the morale within the squad.
A crushing 10-1 victory over last season’s Paralympic and World Championship silver medallists Sweden generated the momentum they needed and they carried that into their second match of the day which ended with them leading Denmark 6-4. 
“Day one was a tough one for the team but I think coming in to day two we all remained really positive and we all definitely had that mindset that we were going to make day two a two win day and it is really good to see that is what we did,” she said.
“Two losses was definitely not the start we wanted however results aside we have to look at what worked well and our play and processes were the best they had been all season and that probably made it hurt even more.
“But we had to sit down and take away the positives and the take away really was that we needed to continue with our play process but really take our chances when we got the opportunity and make them count.
“That was what we did against Sweden and we did it really well.”
It was not only the win, but its nature that provided the lift that they needed to confirm that they were on track and going about things the right way.
“It was a massive confidence boosting win over Sweden we were consistently scoring well and then stealing ends at the same time,” said Butterfield.
“The message we were given by our coach Sheila (Swan) at the fifth end was to continue what we were doing, to continue asking questions of them, to continue to make them make certain shots and continue piling the pressure on and we controlled the game from start to finish to get that convincing win.
“It is amazing what a win can do to change the atmosphere.”
The meeting with Denmark was much harder fought with the Scots falling behind on three separate occasions before the match ended after they took a three at the seventh end to surge into a 6-4 lead.
“We were on a high and feeling confident going into the evening game against Denmark,” said Butterfield.
“It was a completely different game entirely and felt like a real battle.
“There were small margins and neither team really took command, so we were exchanging singles, but we remained patient with our tactics and we took a three in the seventh which really made all the difference and took us on to the win. 
“Momentum is everything. Momentum brings confidence, positivity and hopefully that also brings results.
“For me we really do need to ride on this momentum and keep moving it forward. A tough day one turned into a really strong good day two and I am really looking forward to day three and I know we are ready to fight for another two win day.”
Scotland now meet Latvia and the Czech Republic on the third day of action.
In the World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles event which is taking place at the same venue, Scotland have yet to claim a win, but England made a fine start, beating Italy and Sweden, before suffering their first defeat to Latvia.
Scotland Team Results
Day One
Scotland – Korea 4-6
Scotland – USA 4-7
Day Two
Scotland – Sweden 10-1
Scotland – Denmark 6-4
Day Three
Scotland – Latvia
Scotland – Czech Republic
England Team Mixed Doubles Results
Day One
England – Italy 7-6
Day Two
England – Sweden 9-4
England – Latvia 4-8
Day Three
England – Korea
Scotland Team Mixed Doubles Results
Day One
Scotland - Hungary 3-9
Day Two
Scotland - China 3-10
Day Three
Scotland - Slovakia
Scotland - Norway
The World Wheelchair Curling Championships and World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Champs are being run in parallel at the Richmond Curling Centre in British Columbia (4-12 March).
The participating 12 teams in the World Wheelchair Curling Championships are hosts Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Norway, Scotland, Sweden and United States.
The World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Champs participating teams are:
Group A: China, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia, Switzerland and United States.
Group B: Canada, Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia and Sweden.
Please click here for more information from the World Curling Federation.
Watch LIVE games on Recast
Scotland Mixed Doubles Team:
Charlotte McKenna
David Melrose
England Mixed Doubles Team
Rosemary Lenton
Stewart Pimblett
Scotland Team:
Jo Butterfield (MBE)
Meggan Dawson-Farrell
Gregor Ewan
Gary Logan
Hugh Nibloe
Images: WCF/Cheyenne Boone
#curling #WWhCC2023 #WWhMDCC2023
