#WWhCC2019 Preview

#BetweenTheSheets: World Wheelchair Curling
Championship Preview

Stirling, Scotland welcomes the best wheelchair curling athletes

Can you smell that curling fans? The smell of gold is in the air this time of year. The weather is cold. The curling houses are active. And the world championship rocks are spinning. February and March are exciting times for curling athletes and fans alike.

Last week we watched the #NextGen athletes hit the ice at the World Junior Curling Championships. This week we get to watch our sport's best para-athletes take over centre sheet at the World Wheelchair Curling Championship.

For those keeping score at home, the #WWhCC2019 will be the third world championship of the 2018/19 season. We started with the world mixed and then the world junior's. And we still have the world seniors, world mixed doubles, world women's and world men's. This is an exciting time of the season.

Now before we slide into the event itself, for those unfamiliar with the discipline lets familiarize ourselves with the sport of wheelchair curling. Wheelchair curling uses the same rocks and same ice as curling. Rocks are thrown from a stationary wheelchair and there is no sweeping. Delivery of a rock can be made by hand or the use of a delivery stick.

Teams must be mixed gender, as per the World Curling Federation. Games are comprised of eight ends with 68 minutes allocated per team with one 60 second timeout allowed. Athlete eligibility is defined as persons with disabilities such that a wheelchair is used for daily mobility. Power wheelchairs were originally banned from competition; however, this was overturned by the WCF in 2010.

Because wheelchair curling can appeal to any athlete with a range of disabilities, the sport can be fairly inclusive. In fact, due to no sweeping, it is not improbable to see wheelchair mixed doubles curling become a future Paralympic Winter Games discipline for the sport. As we say, #growthesport right? Why not give our sport para-athletes the same competitive disciplines?! The future folks, it could happen.

Do you know your world wheelchair curling championship history? Who won the first title? Which countries have been the most successful? Why is the championship not offered every year? Answer these questions and more as we take a slide down the history path:

• The first World Wheelchair Curling Championship was held in 2002 hosted by Sursee, Switzerland. 9 nations competed for the inaugural championship. The host nation, skipped by Urs Bucher, won the championship defeating Canada, skipped by Chris Daw. The first bronze medal was awarded to Scotland, skipped by Frank Duffy.
• The championship is held every non-Paralympic year. Thus the event was not offered in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018. There was also no event held in 2003. All together there have been 12 World Wheelchair Curling Championships.
• While Bucher was the first gold medal winning skip, Duffy would go one step better at the 2005 championships when he would become the first skip to #DefendTheIce and win back-to-back titles. He denied Bucher the back-to-back title defeating him in the 2004 world final and would repeat his championship run on home ice in 2005, defeating Denmark (skipping by Kenneth Orbaek). Bucher would make his own history in 2005 when he won the bronze medal, equating to him winning a medal of each color in each of the first three offerings of the championship.
• A weird stat for a world championship: 12 championship events but only 5 different skips have actually won a world title. Experience speaks loudly in #WWhCC history folks. Bucher won the first, Duffy won the next two. Since 2007, there have only been 3 other skips to claim gold...and each have claimed the top of the podium three times. Norway's Rune Lorentsen went back-to-back in 2007/2008 and won again in 2017. Canada's Jim Armstrong became the third skip to go back-to-back with his wins in 2009/2011 and won his third in 2013. And Russia's Andrey Smirnov won his first title in 2012 and then become the fourth skip to go back-to-back with titles in 2015 and 2016. Interesting to note, Lorentsen and Smirnov are skipping again in 2019.
• Lorentsen is the most decorated athlete in the history of the event. Along with his 3 gold medal wins he also owns 1 silver (2016) and 1 bronze (2011), becoming only the second skip to win a medal of each color. Smirnov is the next most decorated, owning 4 overall medals with 3 gold and 1 silver (2017). Scotland's Duffy (2 gold, 1 bronze), Aileen Neilson (1 silver, 2 bronze) and China's Haitao Wang (1 silver, 2 bronze) are next with 3 overall medals apiece.
• All Hail Scotland! The Scots lead the overall medal table, landing on the podium 6 of 12 championships. Scotland owns 2 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze. Canada and Norway follow close behind on the overall medal count with 5, each owning 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze.
• Overall 12 different nations have landed on the podium at least once. Denmark (silver), USA, Germany and Finland (all bronze) own one medal while Sweden owns two (both silver). Canada, Norway and Russia lead the gold medal count with 3 apiece. Switzerland, South Korea and Sweden lead the silver medal count each with 2 while Scotland leads the way with bronze (3).
• Only 2 nations have competed in every championship to date: Canada and USA. Both will continue their streak in 2019, moving to 13 straight world championship appearances. Of course the success rate is quite opposite with Canada owning 10 medals to USA's 1.
• Norway and Scotland follow in appearances with 11. Norway missed the inaugural event in 2002 while Scotland failed to qualify out of the B-division for the 2016 event. Sweden, South Korea and Russia have 10 appearances each. It is worth noting Sweden failed to qualify for the 2019 championship, marking the third straight world championship they have failed to qualify for (2016, 2017, 2019).
• Nations with only one appearance include: Czech Republic (2011) and Poland (2005). It is worth noting Czech Republic qualified as hosts. Poland holds the distinction of being the only nation to compete at the world championship and fail to win a game (0-7). Wales has qualified for 2 championships (2004, 2005) while Bulgaria (2002, 2004, 2005), England (2002, 2004, 2005) and Japan (2005, 2007, 2008) have 3 appearances. For 2019, Estonia and Latvia will be making their debut.
• Is hosting a curse? In the 12-year history of the event the host nation has only emerged victorious 3 times: Switzerland - 2002, Scotland - 2005, Canada - 2009. It has been 10 years since the last host nation won the gold medal. To add an extra layer to the curse theory, host nations have even struggled to land on the podium. Of the 12 hosts, only 6 have won a medal. Outside the three host gold medal wins, Switzerland (2004) and South Korea (2012) won silver while Finland (2015) won bronze. The 2019 host, Scotland, is a previous host winner though so perhaps they can end the curse in Stirling?
• Scotland will become only the third nation to host multiple championships. Switzerland leads the way flying the host flag, having hosted 4 times (2002, 2004, 2008, 2016). The only other nation to host multiple times is South Korea (2012, 2017). Other host nations have included: Sweden, Canada, Czech Republic, Russia and Finland.
• Success at the #WWhCC has equated to Paralympic Games success. Wheelchair curling has been part of the Paralympic Games program since 2006. Canada's Chris Daw (2006) and Jim Armstrong (2010, 2014) won Paralympic gold in addition to #WWhCC success. 2018 Paralympic champion, Wang, is also a multi-medal winner at the world championships. Both Smirnov (2016) and Lorentsen (2018) have Paralympic silver medals. Duffy (2006 silver) and Neilson (2014 bronze) also have success at both major wheelchair curling events.
• 2019 brings a change in the format of the championship. In the past 10 nations would qualify. 1 spot reserved for the host, 7 auto qualify based on the most recent championship results and 2 would qualify via the B-division. This year the format increases to 12 nations competing. Again, 1 host (Scotland), 8 auto qualify from the 2017 edition (Norway, Russia, China, Canada, USA, Switzerland, Germany) and now 3 from the B-division (Estonia, Slovakia, Latvia). The only other time the championships hosted more than 10 teams was back in 2004 when 13 nations competed and 2005 when 16 nations were represented. The format was 2 pools with top 2 in each pool reaching the playoffs.
• The biggest winner from the format change was Germany. The Germans were technically relegated after their 9th place finish in 2017; however, with the field expanding and Scotland earning the auto berth as hosts Germany was moved up into an auto-qualifying spot and avoided having to compete in the B-division. Moving forward, 3 nations will now be relegated with 3 nations earning qualification via the B-division tournament.

Now lets turn our attention to the ice in Stirling and the 2019 competition. Who are the favourites? Who could take a turn as #TeamUpset? Bring on the preview and predictions:

World Wheelchair Curling Championship

Stirling, Scotland

2018 Champion: Not contested due to 2018 Paralympic Games. Previous champion was Norway (2017).

Format: 12-team RR with 6 qualifiers. Top two advance to SF with remaining 6 participating in QF.

#Fav

Norway - The defending world champions. The Paralympic silver medal winners. And the only team completely in tact from both of those competitions. They have experience. They have a tradition of success. They are going to be VERY tough to beat. They also know how to overcome adversity at this event. In 2017, they finished with a disappointing 5-4 RR record, needing to defeat Canada in a TB game just to make the playoff bracket. Of course the rest is now history! Skipper Rune Lorentsen will be making his 11th world championship appearance by the way. Lorentsen is a three-time world champ (2007, 2008, 2017) and one-time silver medal winner (2016). Lorentsen is also chasing history trying to become the first skip to win four world championships. The 57-year old proved he can #DefendTheIce in the past, why not do it again 11 years later? But Lorentsen has also struggled at the world championships, finishing 9th (2-7, 2012), T9 (2-7, 2013) and 10th (2-7, 2015). Which team shows up in 2019?  As an aside, Lorentsen also has a gold medal in....table tennis from the 1999 European Championships.

#Contenders

Russia - Slightly different line-up, same gold medal contender. Russia welcomes back Andrey Smirnov to the skip position after Smirnov was left off the Russian Paralympic Winter Games team, where Russia, competing as the Neutral Paralympic Athletes, would finish 5th and miss the playoffs. Smirnov returns to the helm though as a three-time world champ and Paralympic silver medal winner (2014). He also returns with some revenge in mind, having lost the 2017 world final to Norway after finishing 1st in the RR with an 8-1 record. Similar to rival Lorentsen, Smirnov will also be looking to become the first skip to win four world championships. Russia has reached the world final each of the past three championships, four of the past five (5th in 2013) and have three gold medals to show for it. For Smirnov, he will represent Russia for the 11th time at these championships. He has been the face of Russian wheelchair curling competing for his home nation at every championship in which Russia has qualified.

China - Haitao Wang is back and ready to build on his recent success. The 2018 Paralympic Winter Games gold medal winning skip is looking to propel China to their first world championship. Wang is a seasoned vet at this competition, having won silver in 2015 and is a two-time bronze medal winner (2012, 2013). In 2017, Wang skipped his Chinese team to a 6-3 RR record, good for third place. The team would lose the 3vs4 playoff game and drop the bronze medal game to finish 4th overall. Wang is a regular playoff contender though. The last time he failed to reach the playoffs was in 2011, finishing in 5th place with a 5-4 RR record. In fact, of the 7 previous world championships China has qualified in, Wang has skipped in 6 of them (missing 2016 when China finished 5th). He will have some rookie's joining him this year though, adding Xinchen Xu at second and Zhou Yan at lead. A skip with a lot of experience and current Paralympic champion with a relatively new team in front of him. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Canada - A mix of experience and new blood will throw the maple leaf on their backs and try to get Canada back atop the world wheelchair curling mountain. Mark Ideson retains his spot at Canada skip, supported by lead Marie Wright and alternate Ina Forrest. Ideson, Wright and Forest represented Canada at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, winning a bronze medal. Canada has not won a gold medal at this event since 2013 when Jim Armstrong claimed his third world title. In fact Canada has not even reached the podium since 2013. Back in 2017, Ideson, Wright and Forrest (along with Armstong at skip) lost the TB to eventual champions Norway to miss the playoffs all together. In the past three world championships, Canada has finished 6th (2015), 7th (2016) and 5th (2017). Will the new mix addition of vice Collinda Joseph and second Jon Thurston be the spark of new energy to land Canada back on the podium?

#TeamUpset

Estonia - Has any nation made more growth on the curling over the past few seasons than Estonia folks? The small Baltic nation hosted the European Championships last year. They host a #wct event. The women's team finished runner-up at the Euro B-division in 2018. The mixed doubles program is thriving and becoming a contender. And now the national wheelchair team is ready to make their mark on the international scene. This year marks the first time Estonia will compete for the world wheelchair championship. But the progression to get here has been a rapid one. Just look at the recent results to reach the world stage from B-division: 2015 - 15th, 2016 - 5th, 2018 - Gold. Three years of competing to go from 15th, which actually equates to 25th in the world, to winning B-division and moving to 11th overall. Impressed? You should be! And why stop there? At this trajectory should we be surprised to see Estonia battle for a playoff spot come 2020? It might be a stretch for 2019 but if they can avoid relegation back to B-division consider the #growthesport movement a continued success.

What 2 Watch For (#W2W4)

This competition will really be a battle between those who have been here before vs. rookie participants. There is a rich field of experience, mostly those named above. But also a fresh crop of new wheelchair athletes making their world championship debuts. Overall there are 24 rookie athletes competing this week, coming from 9 of the 12 qualified nations. Estonia and Latvia make their world championship debut while 3/4 of the team from Switzerland and USA will be rookies as well. Latvia was the final team to qualify into the field, winning bronze over Finland at the B-division championship.

On the flip side, we have past world championship medallists from 5 of the 12 nations, namely contenders Norway, Canada, China, South Korea and Russia. But perhaps the dark horse story could come from the host nation Scotland. Skip Aileen Neilson will be making her ninth world appearance and did win bronze in 2017. The bronze medal win was the first for Scotland since 2011, a silver medal by, who else, Neilson. Neilson also competed in the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, finishing a disappointing 7th with a 5-6 record. She will attempt to make it 2-for-2 for Scotland when hosting the championships, having previously won the only other time they hosted back in 2005.

Another emerging nation has been South Korea. The Koreans will rely on experience once again this year to erase the disappointing 6th place finish in 2017. Huitae Yang is back at skip, having led Korea to a bronze medal finish in 2016. He is joined by the same vice (Soonseok Seo) and lead (Lin-ja Bang) as the 2016 podium team. In fact Bang was an alternate for the 2012 silver medal winning team on home ice, tied for the best finish for South Korea at these championships to date (also won silver in 2008).

It is worth noting Slovakia returns to the competition after missing 2017. Slovakia finished 9th in 2016 but does have two 4th place finishes to their credit, 2012 as a debut nation and 2015. Aside from the inaugural championship, Slovakia boasts the best result for a debut nation. The 2019 Team Slovakia is 3/4 of the same team from 2015 when they surprised many and reached the playoffs. Slovakia qualified for this year's championship by taking silver in the B-division.


Projected Standings: 1. Russia  2. Norway  3. Scotland  4. China  5. South Korea  6. Canada  7. Estonia  8. Slovakia  9. USA  10. Germany  11. Switzerland  12. Latvia

Relegation: Germany, Switzerland, Latvia

Qualifiers: Russia, Norway, Scotland, China, South Korea, Canada

Bronze Medal: Scotland (Neilson) def. South Korea (Yang)

#WWhCC2019 GOLD MEDAL: Russia (Smirnov) def. Norway (Lorentsen)


What say you rock heads? Who is your pick to win the world title this year? And what do you think about the new 12-team RR and playoff format?

The World Curling Federation will be live streaming playoff games over the closing weekend. Stay connected with #WCF for updates and live game scores throughout the competition. As well, cheer on those competing by sending well wishes and comments via social media using the event hashtag #WWhCC2019.

#StayTuned

From Stirling, Scotland to Brandon, Manitoba, curling fans will have quite a lot of rocks to focus on over the next week. Good luck and good curling to those competing in Scotland.