Another win for Mo at the Star Refrigeration curling championship
A great story of human triumph for another sports champion by the name of Mo. Only this time, it is not the famous Olympic champion Mo Farah, but our National Wheelchair Pairs Curling Champion Mo Simpson, who secured the winning championship title for the second consecutive year with her curling partner Ian Donaldson.
The National Wheelchair Pairs Curling Championship 2013 took place at Braehead Arena in Glasgow over the weekend, where a mix of paralympians and amateurs competed over the title.
This year, sixteen pairs of curlers took part in the competition, which saw participants travelling from all over Scotland and even a pair all the way from Newcastle. The games began on Saturday morning with 24 matches throughout the day that would come to determine Sunday’s “Low Road” and “High Road” finals, where Mo Simpson and Ian Donaldson claimed victory.
Speaking about her win, Mo Simpson said: “I always enjoy playing in the Star Refrigeration National Wheelchair Pairs. With the standard of play in the game getting higher, it makes for a more competitive and challenging competition. Especially this year where a lot of the teams were evenly matched.”
“Winning the competition in 2007 was great. However to win again in 2012 with my current partner Ian Donaldson, and then successfully defend our title this year was – to coin the famous Glasgow phrase – ‘Pure Dead Brilliant!’ Roll on next year for our hat trick!”
The sporting event was streamed live via the Curl Braehead website. This was a first for the event, and it turned out to be a successful addition, with over a thousand sporting fans tuning in over the weekend to watch the games.
David Morgan, Chairperson of the Scottish Wheelchair Curling Association (SWCA), said: “It was nice to see so many curlers participating this year, with a great turnout of new and old faces getting together to participate in this prestigious event.”
The competition is sponsored by home-grown Star Refrigeration – a household name in Scotland for over 40 years and the UK’s largest independent industrial cooling and heating contractor. Star have been working closely with the Leisure industry since 1970, installing 80% of the country’s ice rinks, curling rinks, indoor ski slopes and ice walls, including Braehead Arena. Star Refrigeration’s Director of Sales, Alan Walkinshaw, said: “I want to congratulate Mo Simpson and Ian Donaldson as the winners of the Wheelchair Pairs National Championships for the second year running. I was impressed by the focus and dedication of all of this season’s champions.”
“It was good to see the event continuing to develop – we were pleasantly surprised by the interest in the live webcast. Judy Mackenzie and Norman Cathcart provided the commentary on the final while it was being filmed, which helped with bringing the contest to a wider audience. The event has brought many wheelchair curlers together over the years, and lifelong bonds have been created through the teamwork and camaraderie encouraged by the games.”