After suffering their second loss of the event in their opening match of the second day, England’s Karen Aspey and Stewart Pimblett showed their fighting qualities to recover quickly and register their first win at the World Wheelchair Curling Mixed Doubles Championships when they eased past Turkiye 9-5.
The win was all the more satisfying given that both players have felt fatigued after an impressive performance in last week’s team event and have consequently found it difficult to maintain the standards they set for themselves, as Pimblett, who won the World Curling Sportsmanship Award at that event, candidly admitted. 
“We are pleased with the win even though it wasn’t the best of performances to be honest,” he said.
“There were a few sloppy ends just after the break and they curled quite well, but we pulled together and tightened it up towards the end of the game and got the win.
“We are a little bit tired after the highs of last week, so we need to find some energy and I have been suffering with a stomach bug for the last few days, but I am not making excuses and we are over the moon with that win.”
Pimblett reckons the nature of their win may just provide that much needed boost as they prepare for a one game third day.
“We will aim to use that as momentum moving forward for tomorrow night when we play Spain and hope to get another win there and then we have two big games on the final round robin day,” he said.
“So, we’re pleased with the result, but we’ve still got a few more gears in us and we’ll hopefully find those and move up the board.”
In their only game of the second day, Scotland’s Charlotte McKenna and Hugh Nibloe suffered their first defeat at the hands of Korea going down 10 –5 and now face Hungary and Slovakia on day three.
World Curling Mixed Doubles Championships (March 11-16)
Day One -Tuesday 11 March
Session 2
Scotland – England 11-4
Session 4
Scotland – Turkiye 9-2
Day Two – Wednesday 12 March
Session 5
England – Slovakia 4-10
Session 7 – 16.30
England – Turkiye 9-5
Session 8
Scotland – Korea 5-10
Day Three – Thursday 13 March
Session 10 – 13.00
Scotland - Hungary
Session 12 – 20.00
Scotland – Slovakia
England – ESP
Day Four – Friday 14 March
Session 13 – 09.30
England – Hungary
Session 16 – 20.00
England - Korea
Scotland – ESP
Day Five – Saturday 15 March
Quarter Finals – 10.00
Semi Finals – 17.00
Day Six – Sunday 16 March
Bronze medal match – 10.00
Gold medal match – 16.00
Please click here for results.
Watch LIVE streamed games on Curling Stadium Europe and The Curling Channel:
Scotland Mixed Doubles Team
Hugh Nibloe (skip)
Charlotte McKenna
Coaches:
Head Coach: Sheila Swan
Team Coach: Niall Ryder
England Mixed Doubles Team
Stewart Pimblett (skip)
Karen Aspey
Coaches:
Head Coach: Tony Lenton
Coach: Rosemary Lenton
For more information on our Paralympic Pathway Programme and opportunities please email: Cheryl.lappin@britishcurling.org.uk
Images: World Curling
