Stirling 2019: China and Scotland clash for gold

“It’s just a dream come true to actually play in the final of our home championship and it’s been my dream to get a medal on home soil. We know we’ve got a medal now, but there’s one colour I don’t have, and it would be my ultimate dream to get that.”

China and Scotland will fight for the gold medal at the World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2019 on Sunday, after winning Saturday’s semifinals.

Paralympic champions China beat South Korea in a low-scoring semi-final. The teams were level after five ends with two points apiece.

In the sixth end South Korea skip Soonseok Seo missed a take-out attempt, leaving China skip Haitao Wang with a draw for two points and a 4-2 lead.

China stole another point in the seventh end after Seo’s stone landed short. China won the game 5-2.

Wang said after the game: “We’ve been able to learn some things at this championship. Now we need to bring out the best from ourselves.”

There was a closer match between defending world champions Norway and Scotland for the second place in the final. Cheered on by a capacity crowd at the Peak, Stirling, the hosts won the second and third ends by two points and were 4-2 up at the break.

In the second half, Scotland won the fifth and seventh ends, the latter with a lucky draw from skip Aileen Nelson with her last stone.

In the crucial eighth end Norway needed three points to take the game into an extra end.

Scotland skip Aileen Neilson placed her last stone perfectly. Norway skip Rune Lorentsen slightly misjudged his final stone, giving Scotland the point and a 7-3 win.

Neilson said: “It’s just a dream come true to actually play in the final of our home championship and it’s been my dream to get a medal on home soil. We know we’ve got a medal now, but there’s one colour I don’t have, and it would be my ultimate dream to get that.”

Scotland last won the world championship in 2005, before Neilson joined the team, while China have never won gold at this event.

Slovakia and Switzerland come up short

In the earlier play-offs, Scotland beat Slovakia 7-6 in a tense game, while South Korea made their victory over Switzerland look easy.

In the game between Scotland and Slovakia, Scotland took the first end with one point. By half-time they were 3-2 up and added a further three points after the break, thanks to accurate play and a few small errors by Slovakia.

Slovakia got themselves back in contention with three points in the seventh end and stealing a further point in the eighth, forcing an extra end.

In the extra end Scotland, with the hammer, played defensively. Slovakia were unable to dislodge the Scottish stone sitting closest to the centre of the house. Scotland won a single point, and the game, without having to play their final stone.

In the other play-off match South Korea dominated from the start and sealed their win with three points in the third end and four in the fifth. Switzerland conceded the game after six ends, with the score 10-2 to South Korea.

The bronze medal game between Norway and South Korea will be played at 10am on Sunday, with the gold medal game at 2.30pm. Both games will be streamed live on Paralympic Games page and Scottish Curling Facebook page.