Scotland dominated the second half of their match against Norway, registering four unanswered shots, to complete an impressive comeback and claim an important win on the opening day of the Kuntai World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Beijing.
Their opponents looked to have all the momentum at the midway break, leading 4-2 at that stage, but Scotland skip Hugh Nibloe was delighted with the way his team found the right words to galvanise themselves, then produced the necessary calibre of play to match.
“It really was a game of two halves,” he said after his perfect freeze onto a Norwegian stone at the final end secured the steal that wrapped it up at 6-4. 
“I thought we started really well at the opening end, before we let it slip a little bit, but after a wee chat at half-time we managed to get back on the horse and bring it home in the end, so we’re pleased with the W.
“Coming out after that half-time break we made sure we scored in the fifth end. I let an easy chance go in the fifth end when we could have got a two but only got the one, but the team stuck together and kept fighting.”
The Scots have become well acquainted with the Norwegians in recent months after British Curling hosted two Euro Super League events in the National Curling Academy in Stirling and Nibloe, who was part of the team that claimed silver when the World Wheelchair Championship was held in Stirling two years ago, reckoned that this opening result in China demonstrated that they have gained from that experience.
“The competitions we’ve played in Stirling this season have been integral to getting where we are in terms of preparation,” he said. 
“There’s a new team dynamic, so having that chance to learn from one another coming into the competition today knowing how we can help each other played a big part in our preparation and it paid off today.”
He knows, however, that they cannot afford to get ahead of themselves given the quality of the opposition.
“It really is a case of looking at one game at a time, aiming firstly to keep ourselves in the top division, before looking at play-offs, then seeing how the week pans out,” he said.
British Curling’s Paralympic Head Coach Sheila Swan echoed that message, saying: “It’s a long week, but we’re delighted to get off to a winning start with a victory against a top team.
“We had a number of opportunities in the first few ends that we didn’t grasp, but the guys hung in really well and in the second half we began to ask a lot more questions and got some more opportunities.”
Scotland have a two game day tomorrow playing Italy - who had an extra end victory against Switzerland on their return to the top flight of the World Championships since 2012 – followed by Korea.
Scotland Team 
Hugh Nibloe
Gregor Ewan
David Melrose
Meggan Dawson Farrell
Charlotte McKenna (alternate)
Results: https://worldcurling.org/events/wwhcc2021?pageType=results
#curling #WWhCC2021
Photos: © WCF/Alina Pavlyuchik
