Sochi 2014 Winter Paralympic Games bronze medalist Aileen Neilson will skip the Scotland team as they take to the ice at the World Wheelchair-B Curling Championship (WWhBCC) in Lohja, Finland this weekend. Aileen will play alongside team-mates Gregor Ewan (third), Hugh Nibloe (second), Robert McPherson (lead) and Angie Malone (alternate) in Finland.
The WWhBCC will be held from 4-10 November at the Kisakallio Sports Institute with a record 16 international teams taking part. The teams will battle for the final two remaining spots at the 2017 World Wheelchair Curling Championship (WWhCC) which will be held in Pyeong Chang, South Korea.
The teams taking part are split into two groups with Scotland featuring in Group A:
Group A: England, Israel, Italy, Scotland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey.
Group B: Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Japan, Latvia, Poland, Chinese Taipei.
Slovakia and Finland, who were both relegated from the 2016 WWhCC in Lucerne, Switzerland, will be amongst the favourites in Finland and there will be international debuts for the teams from Chinese Taipei and Turkey.
Both groups will play a round-robin stage beginning on Friday 4 November, with the top three teams from each group proceeding to the play-off stages. If required, teams will play one round of tie-breakers at 14.00 on Wednesday 9 November, to determine the final rankings. The top ranked team from each group will progress directly to the semi-finals taking place at 09.30 on Thursday 10 November. The second and third placed teams will play a qualification round at 18.30 on Wednesday 9 November for the remaining semi-final places.
The semi-final winners will qualify for the WWhCC 2017 and play for the gold and silver medals, while the semi-final losers will compete for bronze medals. Both medal games take place at 14.30 on Thursday 10 November.
The WWhCC 2017 is the last qualification event for the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, to be held in PyeongChang, Korea from 9-18 March.
To keep up-to-date with all the action from Finland follow the World Curling Federation on Twitter, Instagram (@worldcurling) and Facebook (/WorldCurlingFederation) and use the hashtags: #WWhCC2017 #Roadto2018 #curling.