After British Curling’s wheelchair team put in a fine showing in Canada last weekend when they reached the final of the first ever Grand Slam of Curling Wheelchair Invitational, another group of Paralympic hopefuls have arrived in Italy for their first competitive outing of the season.
This weekend’s line-up of Gregor Ewan, Julian Mattison, Keith Gray and Meggan Dawson Farrell that will contest the Euro Super League (ESL) (3-5 October) in the Pinerolo Curling Arena, is another blended team of Scottish and English internationalists, all of whom are hoping to impress the coaching team. 
The openness of that contest for places is exemplified by the rapid progress made in the sport by Keith Gray, who only took up wheelchair curling just over two years ago and he knows that every competition is an opportunity to demonstrate his development as a curler and as a team player since he first took to the ice.
“It is great for our team to go out this weekend and show just how much work we have put in over the pre-season,” said the 37-year-old from Bo’ness.
“We watched our squad mates do really well last weekend in Canada and we hope we can do the same this weekend or maybe even go one better.
“We will also get the chance to test ourselves against similar opposition as hosts Italy will be fielding the same line-up as they took to Canada plus, we will also compete with our usual ESL opponents Norway and Sweden, both of whom we meet on the first day.”
This trip is his first to Italy with his curling team mates and he is hopeful that it is an experience he can enjoy again next year.
“All of the squad is obviously harbouring hopes of getting that Paralympic selection and to be in Italy for the start of my competitive season, especially Torino, which was the first city to stage Paralympic wheelchair curling, certainly brings that home and I hope I can be out here again at the end of my season,” said Gray.
“It does feel different this year as the Games are always in the back of your mind and you know every time you step on the ice it is a chance to show what you can do and what you are capable of.
“I want to do my best with every chance that I have and I will be pushing others as hard as I can to make sure we have the best team going to Cortina next year.
“This season we will have different groups heading out to different events which I guess is a good way for the coaches to look at different combinations. The good thing is that we have a really strong team culture so after each trip we will re-group and share our experiences with each other which is really helpful.
“We feel ready for this weekend and inspired by our squad mates performances last weekend and ultimately a good performance from us all this weekend would put us in a really good place too.”
ESL Schedule: (Times BSL)
Friday 3 October - 8.30am
Italy v Sweden
GB v Norway
Friday 3 October - 1.30pm
Norway v Italy
GB v Sweden
Saturday 4 October – 8.30am
Italy v GB
Sweden v Norway
Saturday 4 October – 1.30pm
GB v Norway
Sweden v Italy
Sunday 5 October – 8.00am
GB v Sweden
Norway v Italy
Sunday 5 October – 1.00pm
Norway v Sweden
Italy v GB
Team Great Britain (in alphabetical order)
Meggan Dawson Farrell
Gregor Ewan (Skip)
Keith Gray
Julian Mattison
Sheila Swan (Head Coach)
Niall Ryder (Team Coach)
Images: British Curling / PPA
