Wheelchair Curling World Champs Underway in Vancouver

The 2009 World Curling Federation (WCF) Wheelchair Curling World Championships are currently underway in Vancouver, Canada. Players from ten countries are competing to determine the world’s best Wheelchair Curling team.

Last night, Team Scotland dropped both their matches and lost 6-5 against Korea and 9-2 against Germany. Scotland is tied for last place at 5-1 with Switzerland.

Meanwhile, the Canadians activated the sole remaining member of their Torino 2006 Paralympic gold medal squad, alternate Sonja Gaudet, for their match against Korea, the 2008 World Championships silver medalists.

The hometown team, skipped by Jim Armstrong, defeated the Koreans 9-4, with Gaudet and Ina Forrest delivering an 88 per cent shooting average. The win was a big one, as Canada vaulted from seventh to fourth in the standings, tied with China and defending champions Norway at 3-3.

Germany also beat China to maintain the lead at 6-1, while Sweden defeated Norway 10-6 to sit in second at 5-1. The Norwegians then thumped Italy 11-5, after the Italians had dropped a stunning steal of four points in the last two ends to lose to the US Team by an 8-5 count. The US joy was short-lived, however, as they lost 7-5 to Switzerland, who scored their first victory of the championships. Italy is at 4-3, while Korea and the United States are both 3-4.

The 2009 WCF Wheelchair Curling World Championships are the test event for the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games and at the same time the final tournament in which countries can qualify for the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.