Team Canada opens play Saturday at World Wheelchair Curling Championship

An experienced and highly motivated Canadian team will begin its quest for gold Saturday morning at the 2021 Kuntai Group World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Beijing.

The event has plenty on the line; not only will a world champion be crowned, but the event also will determine the 11 countries that will join host China in the field for the 2022 Winter Paralympic Games in Beijing.

The combined results of the 2019, 2020 and 2021 world championships will determine the field for the Paralympics; Canada currently sits sixth in those standings, which can be viewed by CLICKING HERE, and has locked up its spot in the Paralympics field.

The World Wheelchair Curling Championship will be staged in the same venue that will host all curling events at the 2022 Winter Olympics and 2022 Winter Paralympics — the Ice Cube, which also hosted aquatics events for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Canada will send the same lineup to Beijing that claimed a silver medal at the 2020 World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Wetzikon, Switzerland.

Mark Ideson will skip the team while throwing lead rocks, while Jon Thurston will throw fourth stones. Vice-skip Ina Forrest (throwing third), Dennis Thiessen (throwing second) and alternate Collinda Joseph will round out the on-ice lineup, with Mick Lizmore as coach, Wendy Morgan as team leader and Dr. Steven Macaluso as the team physician.

Canada will play an 11-game round-robin, with the top six teams from the 12-team field making the playoffs. The first- and second-place teams will go straight to the semifinals, while No. 6 plays No. 3, and No. 5 plays No. 4 in the qualification round.

The qualification round and semifinals are on Friday, Oct. 29, with the bronze- and gold-medal games a day later.

The championship was originally scheduled for March 6-13 but was rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canada will head to Beijing ranked fourth in the World Wheelchair Curling Rankings, behind China, Norway and Russia.

Ideson, Forrest and Thiessen were all members of the Canadian team that won bronze at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang. 

Canada has won the world championship on three previous occasions, tied with Norway and behind only Russia with four.

Here is Canada’s game schedule in Beijing

(All times Eastern)

Saturday

• 7:05 a.m., vs. U.S.

Sunday

• 2:05 a.m., vs. Switzerland
• 7:05 a.m., vs. China
• 9:05 p.m., vs. Sweden

Monday

• 2:05 a.m., vs. Scotland
• 9:05 p.m., vs. Norway

Oct. 26

• 2:05 a.m., vs. RCF
• 9:05 p.m., vs. South Korea

Oct. 27

• 7:05 a.m., vs. Slovakia

Oct. 28

• 2:05 a.m., vs. Latvia
• 7:05 a.m., vs. Italy

Oct. 29

• 2:05 a.m., Playoff qualification (3rd vs. 6, 4 v 5)
• 7:05 a.m., semifinals
• 10:05 p.m., bronze-medal game

Oct. 30

• 2:35 a.m., gold-medal game.

For more information about the 2021 World Wheelchair Curling Championship, including schedules and team lineups, go to worldcurling.org/events/wwhcc2021/