SCOTS GO JOINT TOP OF STANDINGS AT WHEELCHAIR WORLD CHAMPS AFTER TWO WIN DAY

Scotland claimed victories over Canada and Switzerland on day three of the Kuntai World Wheelchair Championships in Beijing to move into a share of top spot in the standings.

After a highly encouraging start to the tournament brought them wins over Norway and Italy, they had suffered their first defeat at the hands of Korea in the last round of matches on the second day’s play, so skip Hugh Nibloe was all the more satisfied with the way they bounced back.

“That was a big two wins to put on the board. It was really important to get those today after the defeat to Korea last night,” he said.

The Canadians, who reached the final of last season’s World Championships, had begun the day well, beating Sweden in the first round of matches, but Nibloe and colleagues Meggan Dawson-Farrell, David Melrose and Gregor Ewan performed solidly from the off and were never headed, claiming the hammer then building a 5-2 lead after five ends. The teams then exchanged twos at the next two ends before the Scots ran their opponents out of stones at the last.

“We put in a really strong performance against Canada. I thought we all played really well against a good team,” said Nibloe.

While they were less satisfied with the way they played against the Swiss, who had gone into that match without a win and with two-game days the norm for the rest of the round-robin stage of the event, he said they would be pushing themselves to maintain their form throughout each day’s play rather than allowing it to tail off later in the day.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think we played anywhere near as well against Switzerland, so it’s about getting back to the standards we set against the Canadians and bringing that into tomorrow’s matches against Sweden and Latvia which will be really tough games,” said the skip.

Now tied for first place with hosts China, defending champions the RCF and the USA with a record of four wins and one loss, their schedule means they again miss out on the fourth day’s first round of matches before they face the Swedes and then the Latvians, both of whom are currently still very much in play-off contention having won three of their five matches.

Scotland Team,
Hugh Nibloe
Gregor Ewan
David Melrose
Meggan Dawson Farrell
Charlotte McKenna (alternate)

Results
Scotland v Norway 6-4
Scotland v Italy 10-4
Scotland v Korea 6-8
Scotland v Canada 7-4
Scotland v Switzerland 11-7

Results