GB Mixed Wheelchair Curling Team Narrowly Defeated by Canada
The Great Britain mixed wheelchair curling team experienced a close 5-4 loss against 2022 Winter Paralympic bronze medallists Canada during their third round-robin match in Milan-Cortina. The team, composed of Karen Aspey, Austin McKenzie, Stewart Pimblett, and Hugh Nibloe, held a 4-2 lead going into the final end but were unable to successfully execute their last stones. Canada, benefiting from the last-stone advantage, scored the three points needed to clinch the win.
During the match, Austin McKenzie required additional support from his teammates due to an issue with his wheelchair brakes, which led to a technical timeout early in the game.
Para-Snowboarding and Biathlon Updates for Team GB
In Para-snowboarding, British athlete Davy Zyw was transported to hospital as a precaution following a fall in the Snowboard Cross UL (upper-limb) pre-heat. The 38-year-old from Edinburgh is notable for being the first snowsport athlete with motor neurone disease to compete at the Games.
Team-mate James Barnes-Miller was eliminated after a challenging start in his quarter-final in the same division. Reflecting on his performance, he stated:
"I messed up at the start. I was trying to chase back down and I messed up at another corner. It wasn't the cleanest, which was a shame because I qualified really well yesterday and it felt good in practice."
Zyw is expected to participate in the banked slalom events later in the competition.
In the men's Para-biathlon individual seated event, Scott Meenagh finished 18th, trailing over eight minutes behind the gold medallist Zixu Liu of China.
Curling Match Details and Upcoming Fixtures
Prior to the match against Canada, GB had experienced a loss to Slovakia and a dramatic extra-end victory over the United States on Saturday. The game against Canada began with a scoreless first end, followed by GB stealing a point in the second end to take the lead. Canada responded with points in the third and fourth ends, including a steal, to lead 2-1 at the interval.
GB equalised in the fifth end. Despite having four scoring stones late in the sixth end, Canada’s skip Mark Ideson delivered a precise final stone, resulting in a narrow 3-2 GB lead. The seventh end was tense, with errors from both sides. Ideson’s final stone fell short, allowing GB to steal one and extend their lead to 4-2 going into the final end, where Canada held the last-stone advantage.
Under pressure, Hugh Nibloe was unable to land his final stones effectively, enabling Canada to secure their second win of the tournament.
Looking ahead, GB will continue their mixed team campaign against Korea on Monday at 08:35 GMT. Additionally, the mixed doubles pair Jo Butterfield and Jason Kean will face unbeaten China at 13:35 on Sunday, aiming to maintain their position for the semi-finals.
