The first of two World Wheelchair Curling Championships to be held in Ayrshire concluded at the weekend with China taking home gold.
The first curling world championships to be held in Ayrshire for more than 60 years have ended with China winning gold ahead of Korea and Canada.
Chinese skip Wang Haitao was presented with the Kate Caithness Salver by Kate Caithness, former president of World Curling, after a week of world class sport at the Auchenharvie Leisure Centre in Stevenston.
China defeated Korea 14-3 in the gold medal match after Canada had secured bronze with a 4-2 victory against Slovakia.
World class curlers will return to Auchenharvie on Tuesday as the World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Championships get underway.
At closing ceremony, England’s Stewart Pimblett was presented with the World Curling Wheelchair Sportsmanship Award.
The award is voted on by athletes who were invited to nominate a fellow competitor who, in their view, has best exemplified the traditional values of skill, honesty, fair play, sportsmanship and friendship during the championship.
Scotland finished in seventh place but managed to secure a place at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Paralympic Games alongside hosts Italy, Canada, China, Latvia, Norway, Korea, Slovakia, Sweden and the USA.
A strong start by the Chinese team in the gold medal match saw them score four in the first end and they would never look back.
Another four in the third end and a steal of two in the fourth end saw them 10-2 up at the halfway stage.
A third score of four in the sixth end saw Korea concede the match with China 14-3 up and only two ends left to play.
After the game, China skip Wang Haitao said, “I’m very happy to become world champion again. I would like to thank the local organising committee and the volunteers for this great event.”
After the game, Korea skip Lee Hyeonchul said, “This is my first world medal, and I’d like to go even higher in the next years. This is my third world championship, and I feel like this year is the most wonderful and perfect, in terms of team performance as well.”
The bronze medal match had proven a tighter affair.
The teams were tied at 1-1 at the halfway stage after two blank ends and each scoring singles in the second and fourth ends respectively.
Canada went back ahead after six ends before the match was ties at 2-2 going into the decisive eighth end where Canada took bronze with a score of two.
After their win, Canada’s Collinda Joseph said, “I feel amazing! It’s been a really great week and the team played fantastic. We had a number of up-and-downs this week, so to walk away with the bronze medal is icing on the cake I think.”
Talking about the game against Slovakia, she added, “They were so good, they didn’t miss anything. It was a back-and-forth battle, we all just stuck to our guns and played really well. Both teams executed really well, so to come away with a win against a team like that today was fantastic. So great!”
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