ParalympicsGB wheelchair curlers fight back to seize bronze
The ParalympicsGB wheelchair curlers fought back after a disappointing semi-final defeat to defiantly claim bronze at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, their first Paralympic medal since 2006.
Brilliant tactical play from the team saw them come from behind to beat China 7-3.
Following a disappointing defeat to Russia in the morning session, GB regrouped in preparation for the afternoon’s bronze medal match. Making a line-up change once more, experienced Angie Malone came onto the ice as lead, with Jim Gault as second, Gregor Ewan as third and Aileen Neilson as skip.
The Chinese had claimed a convincing 6-3 win over GB in the final match of the round robin and confidently opened the scoring with a point in end 1, while a steal followed in end 2 to edge them to a 3-0 lead.
GB bounced back in end 3, as Neilson used great tactical skill and accuracy to score two points and get the team back in the game. A steal followed in end 4, as GB carefully placed their stones in the house and benefitted from a missed take-out effort from the Chinese, taking the lead for the first time in the game with a score of 4-3. End 5 saw more tactical play from GB, as they carefully positioned their stones once more to create another scoring opportunity to steal a point and advance to a 5-3 lead.
In end 6 GB held their nerve and forced yet another steal to add another point to their lead. Despite holding on to the advantage of the hammer, China conceded another point in end 7 and as play entered its final phase the ParalympicsGB curlers kept their cool to triumph with a score of 7-3.
Skip Aileen Neilson said:
“I’m feeling absolutely ecstatic about our result. I want to thank everyone for their support, both here and back at home. I can’t wait to get back and show off this medal. I feel so proud, we’ve had a rollercoaster ride over the whole competition but we’ve shown we have such a great team dynamic both on and off the ice, so thanks again to everyone who helped us achieve this.”
Bob McPherson said:
"This is the best feeling ever. To come and get this medal here is a dream come true for me, absolutely amazing. We've had ups and downs but this is a definite up."
Jim Gault commented:
"I had a job to do and hopefully I've done it to my best. I want to thank all my team-mates because they've just been fantastic and the team dynamic is second to none. We'd decided that we were going to stick to the same tactics as we did in the earlier game and just go for the steal all the time and it was going to be a slow, long process which it was, just a one here, a one there... But we did it."
Angie Malone said:
"This bronze feels like gold to me, you'd better believe it!"
Head Coach Tony Zummack said:
"As a coach this is my first Paralympic experience and you go through such a range of emotions over the 14 days you're here, to have that culminate in a ceremony where your athletes are up there celebrating something that has been three and a half years in the making is very satisfying."
Gregor Ewan said:
"I'm over the moon. This [project] has been four years long and it has eventually paid off, all this hard work. To get a medal, I mean this is what we all wanted, to get to the end of the round robin and reassess and try and get a medal. We didn't manage to get in the gold medal game but we managed to hang in there to play against China who beat us badly in the round robin and we gave them a game of it this time."
In the gold medal match on sheet C, Russia scored the opening point but it was reigning Paralympic Champions Canada who went on to dominate the game and silence the home crowd to take gold once again.
Victory in the bronze medal match was a tribute to fighting spirit of the ParalympicsGB wheelchair curlers and followed a difficult morning encounter against Russia in the semi-final match, against a team that had performed consistently well in the round robin to position themselves at the top of the standings.
Russia, the 2012 World Champions, looked confident throughout their match and were cheered on by a noisy home crowd which avidly followed the progress of each stone.
GB played well in the first end to limit the damage, with Russia using the hammer to displace Neilson’s final stone from the house and open the scoring with a single point. In end 2 they stole another three points to advance the score to 4-0, until a superb take-out from Neilson’s final stone seized three points and put GB back into the game. However, an aggressive strategy failed to pay off in end 4, as Smirnov, the Russian skip, played a brilliant take-out to move a British stone carefully out of the house and set the Russians up for a huge 7 point score.
GB struggled to come back in end 5 and Russia extended their convincing lead by stealing another point. Despite another point for GB in end 6, it wasn’t enough to unnerve the Russians who continued to dominate the game and win 13-4.
This morning there were blue skies above the Alpine Skiing slopes as the athletes competed in the Giant Slalom on the final day of competition for the men’s skiers.
In the men’s Standing category, 16 year old James Whitley held his own in an experienced field to secure 20th out of 35 finishers in the first run with a time of 1:24.64. He skied an excellent second run, punching the air as he came through to finish line to clock 1:18.14. His combined time of 2:42.78 secured him an overall finish position of 14th overall – one place higher than he finished in Slalom, Whitley’s preferred event.
On his celebration on the finish line today, he said:
“I knew I'd done a good run. Even before I saw my results, I knew I'd gone up a few places up the rankings in that run.”
On his overall performance today, he said:
“I reckon I did better in this event compared to Slalom because I listened to my coach so I knew the course perfectly well, I rode the bumps and it was one of those races that went well today.”
Speaking of his Paralympic experience, he said:
“I'm really happy how I've performed here [in Sochi]. I didn't have any runs that went wrong and so I'm pleased with how I did. I'm really pleased my family are here as they've been really good support for me in the past few years. I've really enjoyed every moment of these Games and I hope to get to go to another one.”
In the Sitting category, Mick Brennan clocked 1:23.79 in his first run to go into the second part in 14th position. He then produced a 1:21.09 second run to hold on to his 14th place in the overall standings.
He said:
“The first run, I just let it flow and sneaked into the top fifteen. It meant I got a decent flip and I was second out for the second run. The second run I tried a bit hard, I tried to do something special and I probably wasn't as relaxed. I've really enjoyed being here. I've made some smart decisions both on and off the hill. As a result of not racing the Downhill, I got a great Super G in and proved that I deserved to be here. From there, my week has gone from strength to strength. Now I want to build on this platform. I'm looking forward to seeing my daughter, I haven't seen her since Boxing Day, and spending some quality time with her. Then I'll start building my strength and conditioning up, ready to start this journey again.”
Brennan’s compatriot in the sitting category Ben Sneesby secured a time of 1:26.96 put him into 21st before a crash ruled him out of the second run.
But the teenager retained a positive outlook, saying:
“I'm not disappointed. Just to get here is a big achievement. Today I was sitting in 21st and I was told I was skiing well until the crash, which is a good result itself. But the whole Games experience, I've loved it. I was thinking the other night I can tell everyone now that I'm a Paralympian and I went to a Paralympics, and that's incredible.”
The Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games conclude tomorrow (Sunday March 16) with Jade Etherington and Caroline Powell, Kelly Gallagher and Charlotte Evans, Millie Knight and Rachael Ferrier and Anna Turney all competing in the women’s Giant Slalom.
The curtain will fall on one of the most successful Games for ParalympicsGB in history at 20:14 local time, when the Closing Ceremony gets under way in the Fisht Stadium.
