England’s wheelchair curlers go into the final day of round robin play at the World B Championships in Finland knowing that victory in both their matches will take them into play-offs.
Stewart Pimblett, George Potts, Julian Mattison, Karen Aspey and Jason Kean went into the event in Lohja knowing they had to reach the semi-finals to give themselves a shot at claiming one of the three qualifying spots for the World Wheelchair Championships in Stevenston later this season.
After starting out with two wins on the opening day, a third successive day in which they won one and lost one kept them in the top four as they inflicted a 17-0 defeat on win-less Thailand before losing 9-4 to play-off rivals Czechia in their second match of the day. 
That was a frustrating encounter as some fine play in the early ends saw them set up a lead at the halfway mark before their opponents took command after the break, but England Coach Tony Lenton was largely pleased with what he had seen.
“We were reasonably hopeful of success against Thaliand, whilst never taking any of these games for granted, so we took the opportunity to give George Potts a chance to get on ice and get some game time and the change of line-up was I think really good as was the outcome,” he said.
“The Czechia game was then very much a game of two halves with the team playing exceptionally well and were 4-2 up by the midway break.
“Perhaps it was the break and change in momentum, but the shot making and decision making was definitely working against us after that.
“I think the team gained lots of learnings from that game, though with the way the second half panned out and looking back now I don’t feel the score line is reflective of that game, but it was a disappointing outcome after what had been such a strong start.”
They now face Spain who are out of play-off contention, then Estonia, who forced their way back into the reckoning on day four with victories over the same two opponents England had faced, beating Czechia 9-7, then Thailand 12-4.
“We have two round robin games left now and we are mindful of both of those teams, but we need a positive outcome from the Spain and Estonia games and then our destiny is in our own hands,” said Lenton.
“We don’t want to be in a position of waiting for other outcomes and how they might influence us and the way to do that is to win both games.
“It is in our hands and we will endeavour to preserve that situation rather than give it up to someone else.”
England Team
Stewart Pimblett
George Potts
Julian Mattison
Karen Aspey
Jason Kean
Tony Lenton – England Coach
Rosemary Lenton – England Assistant Coach
Sheila Swan – British Curling Paralympic Head Coach
Results:
Day One
England – Poland 10-1
England – Finland 7-4
Day Two
England – Switzerland L/W
England – USA 6-3
Day Three
England – Hong Kong – China 12-0
England – Japan 2-5
Day Four
England – Thailand 17-0
England – Czechia 4-9
Day Five
England – Spain
England – Estonia
Day Six
Semi Final
Finals
Please click here for results.
Image: PPA/Graeme Hart
