Tough start for Canada at wheelchair curling world championships

(WCF/Richard Gray photo)

STIRLING, Scotland (Curling Canada)- Team Canada is off to a tough start, giving up another two losses on the second day of competition at the 2019 World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Stirling, Scotland.

Skip Mark Ideson, vice-skip Collinda Joseph, second Jon Thurston, lead Marie Wright alternate Ina Forrest and coach Wayne Kiel started the day with a tough 5-4 loss to South Korea’s Huitae Yang. After a strong start – taking two in the first end and holding Yang to a single in two – Canada gave up two steals to fall behind 3-2 and could not catch up.

Against Rune Lorentsen, the three-time world champion and 2018 Paralympic silver medallist, the Canadians continued to struggle. Trailing 4-2 after three ends, Canada gave up steals in the next three ends on the way to a 9-2 loss.

“I don’t think much has been going wrong to be honest,” said Ideson. “I feel like we’re really close. This afternoon’s game against Norway we had a few good ends in the beginning and then a couple of ends got away from us. But, we’re a new team and it’s not the start we were hoping to get but we’re certainly not out of it because it’s a long week. It’s a game where you have to have a short memory, so we’ll put those first three behind us, regroup tonight and come out and try to start stringing together some wins.”

Ideson is pursuing his first World Wheelchair Curling Championship gold medal as a skip after winning as alternate in 2013.  He, Wright and Forrest were on the Canadian team that won the bronze medal at the 2018 Paralympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

Canada will be back on the ice on Tuesday against Switzerland’s Raymond Pfyffer (9 a.m. ET) and China’s Haitao Wang, the 2018 Paralympic gold medallist (2 p.m. ET).

For more information about the 2019 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, go to www.worldcurling.org/wwhcc2019