The 2007 World Wheelchair Curling Championships begin tomorrow, part of a sporting display which includes all Paralympic sport disciplines in a combined world championship setting.
Nearly one year ago, Canada captured Paralympic gold in Turin with a dramatic last-rock 7-4 win over defending world champion Scotland. At Solleftea, Canada's Chris Daw is back with just one team change at alternate position, while Scotland is now skipped by former third Michael McCreadie.
Recent tournament play would indicate that upsets are possible at the 2007 Worlds, which features 10 teams competing in games lasting six ends. Canada defeated the Czech Republic in the final of a recent wheelchair curling tournament in Munich, Germany, but traditional powers Scotland and Switzerland finished seventh and eighth. Denmark placed third in what was considered an upset..
The Championships begin Saturday February 17, with the final taking place at 11:00am local time on Saturday February 24..
First-time event host Sweden offers Internet TV coverage of the later draws, featuring commentary from former world champion skip and Paralympic silver medallist Frank Duffy of Scotland. The online webcasts can be found at: http://www.curlingkanalen.se/cks2/index.php?newlang=english.
For event results and statistics, including archived information from three previous World Wheelchair Curling Championship events, please visit the World Curling Federation website at: http://www.worldcurling.org/results/2006-2007/WWCC.
LIST OF COMPETING TEAMS
CANADA
Chris Daw - skip
Gerry Austgarden
Gary Cormack
Sonja Gaudet
Ina Forrest
Joe Rea
DENMARK
Kenneth Ørbaek - skip
Sussie Pedersen
Jørn Kristensen
Ingerlise Jensen
Bjarne Jensen
Per Christensen
JAPAN
Yoji Nakajima - skip
Katsuo Ichikawa
Takashi Hidai
Ayako Saitoh
Seiji Uchida
Kumiko Ogiwara
KOREA
HakSung Kim - skip
Myungjin Kim
YangHyun Cho
Misuk Kang
DongHee Ham
ChangGyu Kim
NORWAY
Rune Lorentsen - skip
Geir Arne Skogstad
Jostein Stordahl
Lene Tystad
Trine Fussem
Thoralf Hognestad
RUSSIA
Nikolay Melnikov - skip
Andrey Smirnov
Valeriy Chepilko
Oxana Slesarenko
Victor Ershov
Oleg Narinyan
SCOTLAND
Michael McCreadie - skip
Aileen Nelson
Jim Sellar
Angie Malone
James Elliott
Archie Bogie
SWEDEN
Roger Westergren - skip
Kenneth Nilsson
Gert Erlandsson
Anna Hammarlind
Kristina Ulander
Mikael Löfvenius
SWITZERLAND
Manfred Bolliger - skip
Erwin Lauper
Cesare Cassani
Madeleine Wildi
Claudia Tosse
Nadia Rothlisberger-Raspe
USA
James Pierce - skip
Augusto Pérez
Jimmy Joseph
Danell Libby
Mark Taylor
James Griebsch