Scotland reach final to clinch GB Paralympic spot

The Scottish pair of Hugh Nibloe and Charlotte McKenna have reached Sunday's final at the World Wheelchair Curling Mixed Doubles Championships on home soil, with a dramatic win over South Korea.

The 6-5 victory in Stevenston also secures Great Britain's place in the event at next year's Winter Paralympics in Milan-Cortina, where it will make its debut.

Britain had already qualified for the team event, thanks to Scotland's performances over the last three years.

Nibloe, who represented GB at the 2022 Games in Beijing, and McKenna went into the tournament knowing they needed to reach the medal matches to gather enough qualification points to earn one of the seven qualifying places.

They finished second in their pool before dispatching Czechia 10-4 in the quarter-finals and coming from 4-1 down against the Koreans, who were unbeaten in the group stages, to score two in the final end.

GB will face Japan in Sunday's gold medal match.

"I guess it's been at the back of our minds all week that Paralympic qualification was primarily what we were here to do, but we didn't think at any point that we would have had to make the final to guarantee that qualification, so the weight that's come off our shoulders now is huge," said Nibloe.

"We're absolutely delighted that there will be seven wheelchair curlers going to the Paralympics next year.

"It's opened up a whole lot more competition within our squad and hopefully this will drive everybody else on."