#Beijing2022 Wheelchair Curling Preview

#BetweenTheRings: Wheelchair Curling Preview

Paralympians are ready to roll into the #IceCube 

Have you been suffering from curling withdraw?

Are you feeling lost with no late night Olympic coverage?

Perhaps you are staying up late into the night decked out in your nation's gear wanting to cheer on your national athletes?

Well have no fear rockheads. The time has come to dust off those jerseys, discover new flavours of coffee and redefine your nighttime routine once again.

Bring on the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.

Bring on wheelchair curling inside the #IceCube.

As the blog did with the Olympic Games curling previews, a similar slide path will be followed for the Paralympic Games.

As they say on Big Brother, #ButFirst...

What is Wheelchair Curling?

Unfamiliar with the sport of wheelchair curling and looking to understand the sport before cheering on your home nation at the 2022 Paralympic Games?

The blog has you covered. Here are the deets:

• Same rocks, Same ice, Same sport - There are no adaptions to the rocks or the ice surface for wheelchair curling.
• No Sweeping - rocks are thrown from a wheelchair, either by hand or the use of a deliver stick
• Mixed Gender - Teams must be mixed gender, with a requirement of one member of the team being an opposing gender. Wheelchair curling teams can comprise of 3 female and 1 male member or 3 male and 1 female or 2 male and 2 female. 
• Game Time - Games are eight ends with 68 minutes allocated per team with one 60 second timeout allowed.
• Eligibility - To participate in wheelchair curling, an athlete is defined as a person with a disability such that a wheelchair is used for daily mobility. Power wheelchairs used to be banned but this rule was overturned by WCF in 2010.
• The Future - Could we see Mixed Doubles Wheelchair Curling added to the Paralympic Games roster in the future? The sport is already inclusive with gender requirements so why not give our Paralympians the same competitive opportunities? A great #growthesport moment (and one I have said in the past MANY times in this blog so my apologies if this feels repetitive).

A Paralympic History Lesson

• Wheelchair curling rolled onto the Paralympic Games program in 2006. Canada would take home the inaugural gold medal in Torino, defeating Great Britain in the final.
• Canada is the most decorated wheelchair curling nation at the Paralympics, having won a medal at every Paralympic Games. Canada won the first 3 gold medals in the sport (2006, 2010, 2014) and won bronze in 2018.
• China enters the #IceCube as the defending champions after defeating Russia in the gold medal final in PyeongChang. The victory marked the 1st Paralympic Games wheelchair curling medal for China, after having a previous best result of 4th place in 2014.
• There has been a different silver medal winner from each Paralympic Games with Great Britain (2006), South Korea (2010), Russia (2014) and Norway (2018) coming up just short in the gold medal match.
• Sweden owns the most bronze medals, having won the 3rd place game in 2006 and 2010. They have failed to reach the podium since however. Great Britain (2014) and Canada (2018) have also reached the podium with bronze medal wins.
• Home ice advantage is alive and well in wheelchair curling at the Paralympic Games. Canada won gold on home ice in 2010. Russia reached the final in 2014. South Korea finished 4th in 2018. China will be the host in 2022 looking to #DefendTheIce...literally!
• Canada's Sonja Gaudet is the most decorated wheelchair curling Paralympian, having been a member on all 3 Canada gold medal wins. Ina Forrest also has 3 Paralympic medals, winning 2 gold (2010, 2014) and 1 bronze (2018). Forrest will try to make #HERstory in Beijing in an attempt to win a 4th Paralympic medal as vice-skip for Team Canada.

Now that you know more about the discipline, hopefully it will add to the excitement of watching and cheering on the best wheelchair curling athletes in the world.

Lets head over to the #IceCube and check out the field.

Take note, the Power Rankings below are based on the current World Curling Federation's World Wheelchair Ranking. 

<Ed. Note: The Neutral Paralympic Athletes were removed from the competition, and the 2022 Paralympic Games overall, on March 3. The preview below does include them in the competition but the predictions have been edited. Originally, NPA were predicted for a 3rd place RR finish and 4th place final placement overall>

#TwineTimePreview

Wheelchair Team

Beijing National Aquatics Centre

Beijing, China

Competition Schedule: March 5 - 12, 2022

2018 Champion: China

Format: 12 team RR with Top 4 advancing to playoffs with 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 SF matches.

#PowerRankings

1. China (Team Wang)

The champs are here....kind of?! The backend pairing of Wang Haitao and Chen Jianxin are back looking to defend the gold medal won in PyeongChang. But they have a different front end with them this time around. 

However, do not let the line up change fool you. This team may be half of the defending Paralympic champions BUT they are the FULL defending world champions.

This team won the world title in 2021. In Beijing. Inside the #IceCube.

We already know history states home ice advantage at the Paralympic Games. But these odds seem stacked in China's favour. Anything short of making the final will be a disappointment.

2. Norway (Team Stordahl)

This may be an example where the world rankings need a slight overhaul for wheelchair curling. Norway remains ranked #2 in the world. The nation did win silver at the 2018 Paralympic Games. But since 2018?

They have failed to make the Top 4 at the world championships.

Long-time skip Rune Lorensten, who guided the team to silver in 2018 but also 3 world championships (2007, 2008, 2017) will not be in Beijing.

But do not write this team off either. The rest of the 2018 Paralympic silver medal winning members are in Beijing, looking for some redemption. 

3. Neutral Paralympic Athletes (Team Kurokhtin)

Ok, we all know who this entry is. And we all have feelings on this. Should they be allowed to compete? Does changing the name they compete under REALLY make a difference?

If we are being real, no. No it does not. We all know it.

But do we punish the athletes for the actions of a government? Doping scandals aside, the issue right now is the invasion of Ukraine. Should Russian athletes be allowed to still compete? It is a complex discussion.

For this space though, politics stay on the bench and we talk about the sport.

Team Kurokhtin will be in Beijing, at least at time of this publication, and will be competing.

And they will be a podium threat.

Konstantin Kurokhtin has 3 world championship appearances. He has 3 medals: 2 gold (2016, 2020) and 1 silver (2017). He also competed at the Paralympic Games in 2018, missing the playoffs with a 5-6 RR record and finishing 5th overall.

He will be looking for some revenge in Beijing. And this is a very dangerous team.

4. Canada (Team Ideson)

We already know the success of Canadian wheelchair athletes on Paralympic ice. The question now is can they reclaim their throne?

Mark Ideson skipped the team in 2018 but suffered a heartbreaking 4-3 SF loss to eventual gold medal winner China. Now he is back and, similar to a few names above, will have revenge and redemption on his mind.

This is a STRONG team but they are coming off a disappointing 5th place finish at the 2021 world championship. Ok 5th place is not a disappointing finish overall but when you are Team Canada, anything short of a medal is always disappointing.

We saw the pressure of Canadian curling athletes here a few weeks ago. Will the pressure continue and be too much for the Canadians or will they find their momentum and make a push for gold?

5. South Korea (Team Go)

South Korea was the surprise of the 2018 Paralympic Games, finishing atop the RR with a 9-2 record on home ice. Ultimately they would lose the SF and bronze medal games to finish 4th but it was a huge slide in the right direction for the discipline in South Korea.

Now South Korea comes to Beijing as a medal contender. We saw this team compete at the 2021 world championships but finishing a disappointing 9th place with a 4-7 RR record.

Since then, they have made a small lineup change with Go Seungnam moving up to skip and Jang Jaehyuk stepping back to vice. Will the change make the difference and get them back into the playoff conversation?

6. Great Britain (Team Nibloe)

Back in 2018, Great Britain entered the games as a medal contender. They were fresh off a bronze medal win at the 2017 world championships and looked poised for a deep Paralympic run.

Unfortunately the results did not fall their way and they finished with a 5-6 RR record, good enough for a 7th place finish.

Fast forward to present day and this team will be looking to get Great Britain wheelchair curling back on the podium.

Skip Aileen Neilson is no longer with the team but Hugh Nibloe has the experience to skip a medal contender. Nibloe was vice on the 2019 world championship silver medal team as well as part of the 2018 Paralympic team.

At the 2021 world championships, the team reached the playoff round before finishing 6th overall.

The team will have extra motivation as well after cheering on the success of Team Muirhead and Team Mouat a few weeks ago.

7. Switzerland (Team Jaquerod)

The Swiss have struggled in recent years. After a 5th place showing at the 2019 world championship, the Swiss have found themselves on the bottom of the table the past two years.

In 2020 and 2021 they were relegated to the world B-division and have needed to fight their way back onto the world championship stage. 

The team is now led by Francoise Jaquerod, formerly in the role of lead (2019) and second (2020) and now promoted to skip.

The Swiss will also look to draw from the Paralympic Games experience of vice Hans Burgener, who was an alternate for the team in 2018.

8. Sweden (Team Pettersson-Dahl)

Another surprise world ranking here. Sweden, the defending world silver medal winners, are currently ranked #8 in the world. How is that possible?

Add in the fact they won bronze at the 2020 world championships and the ranking system almost makes no sense.

Sure the team faltered at the 2018 Paralympic Games, finishing a disappointing 10th, but the mantra of "what have you done for me lately?" surely should ring true.

Regardless of the world ranking, this is a Paralympic podium threatening team.

Skip Viljo Pettersson-Dahl has brought Swedish wheelchair curling into the A-division of the sport, having had a few tough years of competing in the B-division.

Sweden has gone from 5th in the B-division back in 2018 to winning B-division bronze in 2019 (and earning A-division promotion) to winning bronze and silver world championship medals.

Plus we saw what their counterparts did on this same ice a few weeks ago. Watch out for the #SwedishVikings!

9. Slovakia (Team Duris)

If you are surprised to see Slovakia here, you must be new to following this discipline. And, if so, welcome!

Slovakia will be making their 3rd straight Paralympic Games, after making their debut in Sochi. The results have been respectable, going 4-5 (6th place) in 2014 and 4-7 (9th) in 2018.

Slovakia has also competed in 7 world championship events, including the past 3.

2021 was a bit disappointing, finishing 10th overall and being regulated to B-division for 2022. But Slovakia has had great success as well, finishing 4th twice (2012, 2015) and 6th (2019).

Radoslav Duris is back to lead the team, having skipped Slovakia at 7 world championships and both Paralympic Games.

If you are looking for a playoff #TeamUpset challenger, Slovakia may be your team to cheer for.

10. USA (Team Thums)

USA is one nation looking for a Paralympic Games redemption. 2018 was not kind of the Stars & Stripes. The team struggled to a 2-9 RR record and a 12th place finish.

But this is not the same team. In fact vice Steve Emt is the only returnee from 2018.

Matthew Thums has taken over the skipping duties for Team USA and has recent success.

At the 2021 world championship, Thums led the team to a 8-3 RR record, reached the playoffs and finished 4th overall after losing the bronze medal game to RCF.

And those results came after the team had to battle through the B-division just to qualify for the world championship. They not only qualified, they won the B-division and continued to roll with success.

This is a team who could gain momentum early and use that to their advantage right into the playoffs. 

Do not let the ranking fool you.

11. Latvia (Team Rozkova)

Welcome to the Paralympic Games ice Latvia!

The Baltic nation is ready to make their debut on the world Paralympic stage.

But they are not new to world championships, having competed at the past 3. The nation has finished 9th (2019), 7th (2020) and 8th (2021) overall in their appearances.

A finish in the top half of the table would be a great #growthesport moment.

And props to skip Polina Rozkova, who is a dual Paralympian. Rozkova competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games in wheelchair fencing.

12. Estonia (Team Koitmae)

Another Baltic curling nation.

Another debut Paralympic Games nation. 

Expectations may be modest for the Estonian team but flying under the radar can be their advantage.

Since the last Paralympic Games, Estonia has been a growing wheelchair curling nation.

They made their international debut at the 2019 world championship, finishing 8th overall. At the 2020 world championship, they finished 10th.

Estonia failed to qualify for the 2021 world championship, after finishing 5th at the B-division championship.

Andrei Koitmae has been the skip of the team since 2020 and will be looking to become the ultimate #TeamUpset.

#TwineTimePredictions

#W2W4

We saw how stacked the fields were for the mixed doubles, men's and women's competitions were for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

This 2022 Paralympic Games field is no different. This is a strong field.

World championship experience. Paralympic Winter Games experience. Medal winners from both.

The fight for Top 4 placement will be a battle.

It is a bit disappointing to see a field of 12 be whittled down to only 4 playoff teams. You almost wish they would adopt the world championship playoff format of a Top 6 qualifier system.

China should be an overwhelming playoff favourite but those final 3 playoff spots are up for grabs.

4 losses used to be the playoff cutoff point back when the field was only 10 teams. The field was expanded to 12 in 2018. Result?

The exact same.

A 7-4 record landed you a playoff spot. Taking more than 4 losses books you a ticket home.

Will the same hold true in 2022?

Projected Standings

1. China  2. Sweden  3. Canada  4. Great Britain  5. USA  6. South Korea  7. Norway  8. Latvia  9. Slovakia  10. Switzerland  11. Estonia 

Qualifiers

China, Sweden, Canada, Great Britain

Semifinals

China def. Great Britain

Sweden def. Canada

Bronze Medal

Canada (Team Ideson) def. Great Britain (Team Nibloe)

#Beijing2022 GOLD MEDAL

China (Team Wang) def. Sweden (Team Pettersson-Dahl)

#TwineTime Medal Picks

Gold - China

Silver - Sweden

Bronze - Canada

What say you rockheads? Agree? Disagree?

Do you think a #TeamUpset can emerge?

Who do YOU think will land on the podium in Beijing?

The message of support and solidarity rings true once again in Beijing. To the athletes competing, good luck and good curling...the Olympic ice is yours!

And to all the fans of the sport watching from home, enjoy, have fun, stay safe and be nice to one another.

#StayTuned

Back on home ice, the 2022 Tim Hortons Brier is ready to toss its first rock this upcoming weekend. The blog will return later in the week with a full preview of the action...including the pondering question of "will any of these teams remain in tact following this event?"