Canada drops first game at World Wheelchair Championship

Mark Ideson made it close at the end, but Team Canada fell just short in a 7-6 loss to Latvia’s Polina Rozkova as the 2019 World Wheelchair Championships got underway on Sunday in Stirling, Scotland.

Mark Ideson in action at the 2019 World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Stirling, Scotland (WCF/Richard Gray photo)

Ideson, vice-skip Collinda Joseph, second Jon Thurston, lead Marie Wright alternate Ina Forrest and coach Wayne Kiel fell behind early and trailed 5-1 after five ends. But the Canadians rallied with a score of four in six and followed that up with a steal of one in the seventh to take a 6-5 lead. Rozkova finished it off with a deuce in eight for the win. Ideson, the 2018 Paralympic bronze-medallist, is trying to win his first gold medal as a skip at the World Wheelchair Curling Championships. He won the gold in 2013 playing as alternate for Jim Armstrong. Canada will be back on the ice for two games on Monday, starting with South Korea’s Jinho Cha at 4 a.m. ET. Later in the day, they’ll face the three-time world champion Rune Lorentsen of Norway (2 p.m ET). For more information about the 2019 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, go to www.worldcurling.org/wwhcc2019