2011 World Championships
Prague, Czech Republic - February 22-March 1, 2011

Canada repeat as World Champions

Photo: WCF/Pavla Hrbova

Final Standings
(click on team for team photo and members)

Read the 2011 World Championships wrap-up report HERE 3/2/2011

Worlds Day 8 - Canada sweep to World title March 1, 2011

It was the return of the old guard as the podium places were decided on the final day of the World Championships in Prague. Since 2004 there have only been three winners at the World level of wheelchair curling**, and all three teams claimed the podium today as Canada won gold, Scotland silver and Norway bronze.

Defending champions Canada also set a record as the only team to go through a World event unbeaten.

In the morning semi-final Scotland, who had beaten Norway 9-1 in round robin play, overwhelmed them 12-1, racing out to a 6-0 lead and sealing the win with a 4 in the 5th and a date with Canada in the afternoon's final.

Scotland * 3 2 1 0 4 2 x x - 12
Norway     0 0 0 1 0 0 x x - 1

It was the first time since Canada's nail biting last rock victory in 2006 that Canada and Scotland had met in the final of a World event, and it was a close game at the beginning. Canada opened with 2 with hammer, but Scotland took a single and a steal to tie. Canada regained the initiative with another 2 before the break, and then eased ahead with steals in ends 5 and 6 to win 7-3.

Scotland - 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 x - 3
Canada *   2 0 0 2 2 1 0 x - 7

“We got off to a good start,” said Canada skip Jim Armstrong. “We were very solid and the two girls [lead Sonja Gaudet and second Ina Forrest] at the front end absolutely set the bar for wheelchair curling. They made it really easy for me. I honestly never had a tough shot. In the round robin we were very close after five ends against Scotland, but sometimes you have to play a little more aggressively and we had to play hard to beat them.”

Scottish skip Aileen Neilson said the team was delighted with silver. “We knew we could come out here and give it our best shot. This is the first major championship that the five of us have played together. I think it’s obvious that we’ve really gelled. The guys have played great and given me great support on the ice and made my job easy.”

Norway had to overcome the disappointment of their semi-final thrashing by facing Russia for the bronze. Quite why the losing team in the 3 vs 4 game should get another chance at a medal eludes me, but this time justice prevailed as Norway beat Russia 8 - 3.

Russia started well, stealing 2 in the 1st end, but Norway posted the next seven points for a comfortable win.

Russia - 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 x - 3
Norway * 0 2 2 1 2 0 1 x - 8

“I’m very satisfied,” said Norway's skip Rune Lorentsen. "We had a good start to the championship and went downhill in the middle. In the game against Scotland this morning I missed everything. It was a bad day at the office for me! But now I’m feeling much better.”

Russia join the medallists and China, Korea, USA and Sweden as automatic qualifiers for the 2012 World Championships in Chuncheon City, South Korea February 18 - 25, 2012. They will be joined by the top two teams competing at the Worlds Qualifying Tournament in Finland at the end of October. Only teams that compete in World Championships can earn points towards qualification at the 2014 Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.

**Scotland won the Worlds in 2004 and 2005. Norway won the Worlds in 2007 and 2008. Canada won the Worlds in 2009 and 2011 and also the Paralympics in 2006 and 2010.

Worlds Day 7 - Return of the old guard: Canada, Scotland and Norway play for Worlds title

Three years ago Canada, Scotland and Norway may have been consensus picks to compete in the playoffs at the World Championships. After two years of struggle Scotland and Norway have re-emerged to challenge Canada at the top of the 2011 Prague World Championship rankings.

Canada played Norway in the 1 vs 2 game, opening with a 3 and never looking back in the 7-4 victory. Norwegian skip Rune Lorentsen was fatalistic after the game, knowing he's been playing all week with a rookie front end.

“The Canadian lead and second were very strong in this game,” he said. “If our lead and second have a good day then we can perhaps match them and hopefully that will be in the final.”

Scotland played qualifiers Russia, a team who had beaten them on the opening day of round robin play, in the page 3 vs 4 game. Scotland held Russia to 1 in the opening end and then took 3 in the second, only to fall behind 4-3 on a couple of single point steals after 5. Singles were taken with hammer for a 5-5 tie through 8 ends, but in the extra, Scotland stole 3 for an 8-5 win and a semi-final game against Norway.

Scots skip Aileen Neilson hogged her first stone in the extra end, but playeda great hit-and-roll buried with her second. “We are absolutely delighted, the guys played an awesome game,” she said. “The guys set up the extra end perfectly. My first shot wasn’t the best but I made up for that with the second shot.”

The winner of the morning semi-final game plays Canada in Tuesday afternoon's final. The loser plays Russia for the bronze medal.

At the bottom of the table, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Germany all had 2-7 records so played tie-breakers to decide which team would automatically qualify for the 2012 Worlds in Korea, and which would have to compete in the Qualifying Tournament in Finland next November.

Sweden and the Czechs played first, a game of singles with Sweden gaining a 3-0 lead at the break and holding on for a 4-2 victory, relegating the Czechs.

Sweden then played Germany, who had given themselves a chance at avoiding relegation by beating Sweden 7-3 in the final round robin draw. With the scores tied 3-3 at the break, Sweden stole 2 in the 5th only to give up 3 in the 6th. But Germany could not hold on. Sweden took two in the 7th and Germany, down one in the final end, gave up a steal and lost 8-6 and were relegated.

A relieved Swedish coach Jalle Jungnell said “if you manage to stay in the group of teams that qualify directly for the World Championships you have got a better chance of qualifying for the Paralympics. But the lesson we have learnt here is for better preparation. We were unprepared.”

On a personal note while I sympathis with Germany and the Czechs, I'm pleased that Jalle, the first wheelchair user to coach at the World level, did not see his team relegated.

Line scores are available HERE and a large gallery of photos are available HERE

Worlds Day 6 - Canada sweep, join Norway, Russia and Scotland in playoffs

Canada completed their sweep of the round robin matches at the 7th World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Prague, beating Scotland 9-4 in the final draw.

Skip Jim Armstrong, acknowledging tight early results, told reporters that his team had not played together very often this year and had taken a little while to settle in and get used to the ice, but were feeling increasingly comfortable as the week went on.

“The 9-4 score was not indicative of the game,” he said. “They had last rock and we ran them up and down for a couple of ends and I decided we’d take a cautious risk in end three and see if we could take two and get back in control. The interesting thing is that those first four ends were played exactly as able-bodied curlers would play it and I think that speaks for the calibre of the game today.”

It was Canada's steal of 3 in the 4th end that put paid to Scotland's hopes of appearing in the 1-2 playoff game, given that they lost to China 5-4 in an extra end this morning.

“Obviously today has not been our best day at the office” said Scottish Skip Aileen Neilson. “But our goal was to get into the business end of the week and we’ve done that. Tomorrow we are going to come out fighting. We know that if we play the way we did with our six (consecutive) wins, there’s absolutely nothing to stop us coming out on top.”

China held their fate in their own hands when they faced fellow qualifiers Russia, who beat Sweden 8-3 this morning, in the final draw. The winner would play on, the loser would have to wait for next year.

China opened with a single with hammer, then saw Russia pull ahead 3-1 with single point steals before the break. China pulled level with a single in the 5th and a steal in the 6th, but Russia posted a decisive 3 in the 7th to claim the 6-3 win and their playoff spot. An excited Russian skip Marat Romanov said, “Our performance has exceeded our expectations. This is the first time we’ve reached such heights at the World Championships.”

Norway went into today's games knowing they had at least a tie-break. Coach Thoralf Hognestad was philosophical about his team's defeats by Canada and Scotland, but unhappy at the loss to the struggling Czechs, a game where he felt his team blew more than enough chances to win.

They almost blew their game against bottom team Germany, needing an extra end to post a 7-6 victory after giving up a steal in the 8th.

German coach Helmar Erlewein, acknowledging a new line-up, had limited ambitions for this Championship; a desire to qualify for next year. In the final draw his team avoided automatic relegation by defeating Sweden 7-3.

USA, who began the competition with definite plans on a medal, had only the morning game, a vital third victory, 9-3 over the host Czechs. They then had an anxious wait to see whether the afternoon results would go their way. They did, with the Czechs losing to Korea 7-3 and Sweden's loss to Germany.

This put Germany, Sweden and the Czech Republic all at 2-7 with a series of playoff games to come to decide which two teams will be relegated to the Qualifying Tournament in Finland next November.

Canada plays Norway in the 1 vs 2 game tomorrow. The winner goes to the final, the loser plays the winner of the 3 vs 4 game between Russia and Scotland. Russia beat Scotland 7-3 on the opening day.

Scroll down for results, tables and teams

Line scores are available HERE and a large gallery of photos are available HERE

Worlds Day 5 - Unbeaten Canada clinch playoff spot.

Alberta's patient alternate Bruno Yizek was given a game at 2nd against Germany (1-6) in the morning draw that saw Canada (8-0) coast to a 13-0 win in six ends. The opposition promised to be tougher in the afternoon, but Canada stole an early 4-0 lead over Norway (5-3) on their way to a 7-4 win that guaranteed them a place in the Page 1 vs 2 playoff game.

Norway had lost to the Czech Republic in the morning draw, again by giving up a big early lead. Though they tied the game after 6 ends, and were just one down with hammer in the 8th, they were unable to deny the Czechs their second win, losing 6-4.

Norwegian skip Rune Lorentsen remained upbeat saying “with two beginners and our third player who has never been in the Worlds before, our performance this week is above all our expectations.” They face last place Germany tomorrow, and with the other 3 loss teams playing each other, are guaranteed a playoff spot with a win.

Scotland (6-1) clinched their playoff spot with a 5-4 win over Korea (3-5). “When you come to the world championships your first goal is to get the business end of the week,” said skip Aileen Neilson. “[then) we take stock and focus and start the competition again.” Three losses guarantees a playoff spot.

China (4-3) beat Sweden (2-5) 5-3 in their only game today, but have a tough finish against Scotland and Russia tomorrow. Russia needed a steal of 2 in an extra end to put away the disappointing Americans who again dug themselves a huge hole by giving up a big end, this time a five before the break, that single point steals were unable to overcome.

Relegation to the Qulifying Tournament is now a very real possibility for the USA team who had made the playoffs at the 2009 Worlds and 2010 Paralympics. They play the Czechs tomorrow in a must win game for both teams.

Another team who will be fighting for survival will be Paralympic bronze medallists Sweden who play Russia tomorrow. Both teams will be highly motivated; for opposite reasons.

Standings after Draw 10

Canada 8-0 (Q)
Scotland 6-1 (Q)
Norway 5-3
China 4-3
Russia 4-3
Korea 3-5
Sweden 2-5
Czech Republic 2-5
USA 2-6
Germany 1-6

Scroll down for results, tables and teams

Line scores are available HERE and a large gallery of photos are available HERE

Worlds Day 4 Canada alone at top after Scotland end Norway's unbeaten run

Norway's run of 22 games without defeat came to a decisive halt when they faced Scotland in Draw 7 of the World Championships in Prague. The game went with hammer, with Scotland holding a 3-1 edge at the break, before the Scots posted steals of 3 in the 5th and 6th before early handshakes and a 9-1 win.

The win put Scotland in a tie with Norway for second place and skip Aileen Neilson was delighted to have broken Norway's streak. "My team played a phenomenal game. But we need to keep our heads screwed on because we’ve still got three more games to go.” Scotland had beaten Germany 10-4 earlier in the day but still have to face Korea, China and Canada.

Canada had a very tough 5-4 win over the Czech Republic to maintain their unbeaten record and claim sole ownership of the top of the table. The Czechs went out to an early 3-0 lead before seeing it slip away in a series of single point steals. Skip Radek Pokorný said his team had tried hard to surprise Canada and thought they did that, managing to force Canada into some difficult situations.

Korea kept their playoff hopes alive with an 8-2 win on four consecutive steals over fellow challengers Russia, though Russia regrouped to post a 14-0 win over an emotionally drained Czech Republic.

China handed Germany their second loss of the day, and kept their playoff hopes on track with the 11-1 win. They are tied with Korea and Russia for fourth place.

Sweden won their second game and put paid to USA's medal chances with a 9-6 win. USA have lost some very close games this week, but in a game they had to win they were down 5-0 after two ends despite having hammer. They pulled back to level the scores and started the 7th with hammer but gave up 3 and lost 9-6.

“It feels very good to have a win finally again,” said coach and last year's skip Jalle Jungnell “It’s very hard as you see things so much more clearly from above. it’s very clear what the team needs to do! And you get frustrated that you can’t actually play the shot.”

Canada plays Germany and Norway tomorrow.

Scroll down for results, tables and teams

Line scores are available HERE and a large gallery of photos are available HERE

Worlds Day 3 - Norway and Canada continue to win

Norway added another couple of wins to their impressive string of 22 consecutive victories when they faced Korea and China on Day 3 of the World Championships in Prague.

In the morning draw steals in the 4th and 7th saw off China 6-3. In the afternoon against Korea they opened with two but then gave up four before steadying with steals in ends 4, 5 and 6. Korea levelled the score at 7-7 with a three in the 7th end, but Norway took their one in the 8th to win 8-7.

Canada kept pace with Norway, beating Russia 7-3 in the morning draw. A steal of two in the 5th was decisive. In the afternoon against struggling Sweden, Canada stole each of the first four ends, again winning 7-3.

Scotland remain at just one loss after beating USA 6-5. USA started well, taking one and then stealing 2 for an unfamiliar early lead before seeing it disappear when Scotland posted four in the 3rd. An exchange of singles the rest of the way gave Scotland the 8-7 win.

USA have ridden the confidence of their skip Goose Perez to the playoffs the last two years, but at 1-3 going into the afternoon draw against China they found themselves down by 4 before they gave up the hammer. China later posted a four and a three in an 11-4 win that had the hallmarks of a losing team pressing.

Sweden's coach Jalle Jungnell has had a tough transition from last year skipping the Paralympic bronze medallists. He saw his team fall behind 4-0 with the hammer playing Korea, and then watched Korea post the biggest end of the tournament, a 5 just after the break on the way to a 10-6 final.

Life was no easier in the afternoon as they faced Canada, who stole the first six points for a 7-3 win. “The Swedes had a tough first game today and sometimes it’s a little tough to re-gear and refocus,” said Canadian Skip Jim Armstrong. “I think we maybe just caught Glenn [Ikonen, Swedish Skip] on a bad day, on a rebound."

Winless Germany got off to a strong start against the host Czech Republic. A three in the 2nd was followed by a steal, and though the Czechs rallied with a steal of their own in the 7th to get to within two, Germany prevailed for their first win, 6-4.

A relieved Marcus Sieger, who has stepped up to skip while still throwing 3rd stones said, “We are happy to have our first victory. it’s my first world championship as skip so it’s a new experience for me. I think I have still got a lot to learn – I need to improve on strategy!”

Scroll down for results, tables and teams

Line scores are available HERE and a large gallery of photos are available HERE

Worlds Day 2 - Norway wins 20 straight, stays top with Canada

Norway won their twentieth consecutive match this morning, beating Russia 7-3. "This afternoon," promised coach Thoralf Hognestad, "we will play tennis!"

Canada continued their run of nail-biting single point victories with a 6-5 win over Korea. They were behind 3-2 at the 4th end break, and gave up a steal in the 5th, but then scored the next four points. Korean skip Tae Yeong Jeong, needing two to force an extra, was light on his final draw and managed only a single.

All three of Canada's wins have been decided by a single point. “Once again we had to come from behind, I think it speaks for the calibre of play generally” said Canadian Skip Jim Armstrong. “Every game has gone to the last rock.”

Scotland regrouped from yesterday's disappointing loss to Russia to post two wins, 10-2 over the Czechs and 7-4 over Sweden.

“Sometimes it’s that last stone that makes the difference,” said Scottish Skip Aileen Neilson, who ended Sweden’s chances of tying up the game in the eighth end with her last stone. “Sometimes you just do the maths and I thought if I get rid of that stone he [Swedish Skip Glenn Ikonen] is not going to get his two. That was the objective and it came off.” Not only was the takeout successful, it padded the score with a steal.

USA finally entered the win column, scoring 4 in the 7th to sink Germany 9-3.

“I think the difference between yesterday and today is that we shot to make the shots and yesterday sometimes we felt that we were shooting not to miss. The key shots we needed to make today – we did!” exclaimed US Skip Augusto Perez.

Germany mounted a comeback against Russia in the afternoon after giving up a 4 in the 6th. They stole 2 in the 8th to force an extra end, but it wasn't enough as Russia took their one to win 8-7 and leave Germany as the only team without a win.

Hosts Czech Republic won their first game, a convincing 9-3 defeat of China in a game where they stole points in 5 of the 7 ends.

Czech Skip Radek Pokorný, playing at his first World Championship, said: “We were quite disappointed to have lost so badly to Scotland this morning as every game is important. We were just trying to forget about this loss. Right from the start we put China under pressure. They were forced to make difficult shots and our tactic paid off.”

Worlds Day 1 - Canada overcome early scare, share lead with Norway

Canada are not known as fast starters at international competitions, and faced a tough opening day against China and USA. China had to qualify through the challenge round last November, but impressed observers with their accurate up-weight hitting, much as Korea had done when they came from nowhere to claim silver in 2008.

China took 1 with hammer, then stole 2 only to give momentum back to Canada who stole 1 just before the break. China added to their lead however, with singles in 5 and a steal of 1 in 6 to go ahead 5-2 with two ends remaining.

Canada were held to one in the 7th but then came through with a big steal of two in the 8th to force an extra end, winning 6-5 with another steal when China's skip Haitao Wang’s final stone was too heavy.

Canada rode their good fortune into their afternoon draw against USA. This time Canada started well, following a blank first end with a 3 with hammer. An exchange of singles left USA down 5-3 in the 8th and though they stole the last point, it wasn't enough, Canada winning 5-4 to join Norway at the top of the standings.

Norway beat USA in the morning. The pattern of a single and a steal was broken by Norway's 2 with hammer in the 8th for a 5-4 win. Long-time skip Rune Lorentsen said: “We are extremely pleased to have done so well on the first day. I have to give credit to Terje [Rafdal] and Tone [Edvardsen] the new lead and second on our team.”

Norway saw off regional rivals Sweden 8-3 in seven ends in the afternoon draw, stealing 2 in the 6th and 3 in the 7th before handshakes.

In the other morning matches, Sweden went out to a 5-0 lead against hosts Czech Republic but saw it whittled away with a succession of single point steals. Sweden needed their single with hammer in the final end for their 6-4 win.

Korea posted 3's in the 2nd and 7th ends but needed a stolen single in the final end to complete their 7-5 win over Germany.

Scotland had a bye in the morning and dug themselves a big hole in their afternoon game against qualifiers Russia, falling behind 4-0 after 3 ends. Russia won 7-3, their skip Marat Romanov joking afterwards that traditionally they have lost their first game so to win was a bit of a surprise.

The loss against a team they would have expected to beat will not have done much to help the Scots team's confidence after a series of international setbacks.

China demonstrated they are the new Asian team to watch in their 9-3 win over a Korean team lacking international experience.

The day's results have Canada and Norway at the top of the table while USA Scotland, Czech Republic and Germany await their first win.

Canada play just one game tomorrow, against Korea in the morning.

Scroll down for results, tables and teams

Friday Feb 17 - Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to Prague we go

Standings after Round Robin and relegation tie-breaks
(click on team for team members)

Results and draws
(times are local - for PST subtract 9 hours)