They may historically be considered “auld enemies”, but it is a friendly rivalry between Scottish and English athletes that will be showcased once again when three British Curling teams take to the ice in Latvia this week at the Riga International Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Tournament (December 5-8).
As coaches looked to drive increased internal competition within the squad, the growing strength of English players has added an extra element and was highlighted at a tour event in Jonkoping, Sweden last weekend where they beat one of the two Scottish teams in the field 6-0 in the bronze medal match.
That followed another podium finish at last month’s World B Wheelchair Championships in Finland, where the England team’s third place finish earned them the right to line up alongside hosts Scotland when this season’s World Wheelchair Championships take place in Stevenston in the New Year.
The need to prepare for that saw Tony Lenton, England’s Wheelchair Curling Coach, try some calculated experiments with their line-up, while looking to stick to their fundamentals.
“I rotated the guys to give them more exposure and experience, which is all part of their and the team’s development,” he explained.
“We stuck to our ideal strategy which tries to play to our strengths.
“As ever we made a few mistakes, both calls and missed shots, but they kept the head and while we lost three out of seven games, on another day we could easily have won them.
“Importantly there were no big losses and I’m proud of the way they to stuck to the job.
“Getting a bronze medal was a great achievement… it always is when you beat the ‘old enemy’,” Lenton laughed. 
He is consequently hoping that two of their leading players, Karen Aspey and Stewart Pimblett, can carry that form into another discipline when they compete in a 16-strong mixed doubles field which includes four of their British Curling colleagues as Jo Butterfield and Hugh Nibloe, we well as Charlotte McKenna and Gregor Ewan line up for Scotland in Riga.
“Karen and Stewart are becoming a strong team at mixed doubles and it will be great for them to get a good run out against meaningful opposition,” said Lenton.
“We are really looking forward to the trip where we can hopefully build on recent successes.”
All games from Riga will be streamed live on YouTube.
Teams:
Group A
Korea - Kim/Jeong
Finnland - Lampinen/Tuomaala
Scotland 2 - McKenna/Ewan
Latvia 3 - Janeviča/Dimbovskis
Group B
Latvia 1 - Polina Rozkova/Lasmans Agris Pla
England - Aspey/ Stewart Pimblett
Spain - Rodriguez/Tramont
Poland 2 - Bodych/Waszek
Group C
Scotland 1 - Butterfield/Nibloe
Latvia 2 - Linda Meijere/ Briedis
Estonia 2 - Falkenberg/Villau
Hugary 1 - Sasadi/Barkoczi
Group D
Estonia 1 - Riidebach/Matas
Hungury 2 - Sarai/Beke
Italia - Berto/Loriatti
Poland 1 - Kachel/Karaś
Images: PPA/Graeme Hart
