It’s the moment of truth for Great Britain’s wheelchair curlers on the penultimate day of Sochi 2014 as Aileen Neilson’s rink chase a much-treasured medal, live on Channel 4 and More4.
It’s been eight years since GB’s Paralympic curlers won a silver medal in Turin and if they’re to emulate that feat this time around then Neilson and her team will need to overcome hosts Russia in the semi-finals.
No matter what the outcome, GB’s curlers will return in the afternoon to play either for bronze or for gold and the faithful British support inside the Ice Cube Centre will be hoping for the latter.
Great Britain will need to improve heavily on their performance when the two teams met in the round-robin stage and Russia routed them 11-2.
Despite coming into the tournament in good form, Britain have been hugely inconsistent throughout the Games, combining outstanding performances against the likes of Slovakia and the USA with heavy defeats to Russia and Finland.
Nevertheless, this side has shown its ability to dig deep at crucial moments and pull a brilliant performance out of the hat and they will be hoping to follow the success of their Olympic counterparts last month.
The other team sport in Sochi also reaches its conclusion today as two of the biggest rivals both on and off the sporting stage meet in the Ice Sledge Hockey final.
Hosts Russia face off against the United States for the gold medal at the Shayba Arena, and like Canada and Norway, these two teams met in the pool stages, with the Russians surprise 2-1 winners in the US’s only defeat to date at Sochi.
The Americans, with netminder Cash in stunning form throughout, start as narrow favourites to exact revenge on their historic rivals.
Russia have exceeded all expectations over the course of their Winter Paralympics bow in this event.
Already guaranteed overwhelming domination in the overall medals table, a gold for their sledge hockey team just three-and-a-half years after its formation would arguably be the high-point of a brilliant games for the host nation.
It would also go a long way towards making up for the disappointment of Russia’s ice hockey performances at the Winter Olympics.
On the slopes, Britain’s men return to action with 16-year-old James Whitley looking to build on the 15th place he achieved in the standing slalom on Thursday.
Whitley is not considered a serious medal hope but he is hotly tipped to be a star of future Paralympic Games.
In the sitting class, Mick Brennan has two top-10 finishes from three events so far and, with a bit of luck and a career-best performance, could be an outside bet for a tilt at the medals.
In the same category is 19-year-old star Ben Sneesby, who impressed with an 11th-placed finish in the slalom on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Roman Petushkov is going for a perfect six-out-of-six golds in Cross Country skiing, which would be the most at a single Winter Games since Norway’s Knut Lundstrom won seven in 1988.
For the first time on British television, para-sports fans will be able to enjoy rolling live coverage of a Winter Paralympic Games and Channel 4 will be providing the most comprehensive TV output of the event in its history, with more than 50 hours of live action over the ten days of competition.
You can follow all the key action from the Sochi 2014 Winter Paralympics by watching Channel 4 and More4’s extensive daily coverage on TV and online.
Plus via two additional Paralympic Extra HD streams available via the Channel 4 Paralympics website on PCs, laptops, mobiles and tablet devices.
SOTB’s TV viewing guide to Day 8 of the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games below:
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DAY 8: SATURDAY 15th MARCH
05:30 – 11:00 |
ALPINE SKIING & WHEELCHAIR CURLING Presenters: Kelly Cates & Arthur Williams |
The penultimate day of action at the 11th Paralympic Winter Games gets underway with the semi-finals in Wheelchair Curling and the Men’s Giant Slalom at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Centre.
After pulling off a ‘mira-curl on ice’ against the USA to qualify, Great Britain’s comeback curlers face the rampant Russians in the semi-finals this morning.
Will GB melt under pressure in the Ice Cube or will they freeze out home hopes?
Up in the mountains, Ben Sneesby and ex-serviceman Mick Brennan represent Great Britain in the Sitting Giant Slalom event, while 16-year-old James Whitley goes in the Standing.
Plus, it’s relay day at the Laura Biathlon and Ski Complex and Rob Walker and Mike Dixon provide commentary as the gold medal is decided in the Open Cross Country team event.
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11:00 – 13:30 |
WHEELCHAIR CURLING Presenters: Jonathan Edwards & Ade Adepitan |
Jonathan Edwards and Ade Adepitan take over presenting duties for the rest of the penultimate day of the Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi.
In the Ice Cube, the finals matches of the Wheelchair Curling get underway, an event which saw Great Britain finish runners-up to Canada in Turin in 2006.
Plus, there’s action from this morning’s Cross Country Skiing Mixed Relay at the Laura Centre.
Coverage switches to More4 for the rest of the afternoon at 1.30pm.
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13:30 – 15:00 |
WHEELCHAIR CURLING Presenters: Jonathan Edwards & Ade Adepitan |
More4 takes over live coverage for the rest of the day with the closing stages of the Wheelchair Curling final at the Ice Cube.
Canada have taken gold in the last two Games, but can Great Britain get in amongst the medals as they did in Turin 2006?
Plus, there’s a look at the best of the action from the penultimate day of the 11th Winter Paralympics, including the men’s giant slalom and the bronze medal game in the Ice Sledge Hockey.
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15:35 – 18:35 |
ICE SLEDGE HOCKEY Presenters: Jonathan Edwards & Ade Adepitan |
After a half-hour break, More4’s live coverage continues with the Ice Sledge Hockey final at the Shayba Arena as hosts Russia face the United States.
USA are the reigning champions and they have won two of the last three Winter Paralympic tournaments. Will they do it again? Or will newcomers Russia win the hosts’ much-cherished medal inside the hockey arena. John Rawling and GB captain Ian Warner will describe the action.
The day’s highlights air on More4 immediately after this programme, with coverage concluding on Channel 4 tomorrow with the final sporting events in the morning and the Games’ closing ceremony in the afternoon.
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18:35 – 19:10 |
PARALYMPIC WINTER GAMES HIGHLIGHTS Presenters: Jonathan Edwards & Ade Adepitan |
Saturday’s highlights programme will air on More4 straight after the conclusion of the live action as Jonathan Edwards and Ade Adepitan look back on the penultimate day’s action.
There’s news from the finals of the Wheelchair Curling and Ice Sledge Hockey and the team medals in Cross Country Skiing.
Plus, Great Britain’s Ben Sneesby, Mick Brennan and James Whitley are expected to feature in the last Men’s Alpine Skiing event of the Games: the Giant Slalom.
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| 05:30-07:30 | ALPINE SKIING | LIVE Men’s Giant Slalom – Run 1 |
| 09:00-11:00 | ALPINE SKIING | LIVE Men’s Giant Slalom – Run 2 |
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| 05:30-08:30 | W’CHAIR CURLING |
LIVE Semi-Final – GBR v RUS |
| 09:00-11:00 | ICE SLEDGE HOCKEY | LIVE Bronze Medal Game |
| 11:30-15:30 | W’CHAIR CURLING | LIVE Gold Medal Match |
| 16:00-18:40 | ICE SLEDGE HOCKEY | LIVE Gold Medal Game |
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In conjunction with Channel 4 and More4’s main TV coverage, winter para-sport fans can choose watch extra live coverage via the network’s dedicated Paralympics website – channel4.com/paralympics.
Channel 4’s ground-breaking coverage of the Games is the greatest ever commitment to the Winter Paralympics from a UK broadcaster and viewers can find more live action via its exclusive online offering.
Two further high definition channels of live streaming will be available via the Channel 4 Paralympics website, which will broadcast an additional 100 hours of uninterrupted live winter para-sport.
These two Paralympic Extra streams will be available as video on demand on computer, smartphone and tablet devices only.
Fast-turnaround highlights of medals and key moments will be available on the Channel 4 Paralympic website and YouTube, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.
There will be live blogging throughout the Games on the Channel 4 website, sharing the latest new, photos, videos, comment and opinion.
For more information on the different classifications involved in each of the sports at the Winter Paralympic Games, visit the Channel 4 website dedicated to its ground-breaking and acclaimed LEXI decoder.
LEXI unlocks the complex world of classification in Paralympic sports and illustrates the different levels of impairment in each class by simply using four colours – green, yellow, orange and red.
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05:30 Men’s Giant Slalom, Run 1 – Visually Impaired
05:55 Men’s Giant Slalom, Run 1 – Standing
James Whitley
06:45 Men’s Giant Slalom, Run 1 – Sitting Mick Brennan / Ben Sneesby
LIVE: 5.30am-7.30am C4 Online Stream 1
09:00 Men’s Giant Slalom, Run 2 – Visually Impaired*
09:20 Men’s Giant Slalom, Run 2 – Standing*
09:55 Men’s Giant Slalom, Run 2 – Sitting*
Mick Brennan / Ben Sneesby
LIVE: 9.00am-11.00am C4 Online Stream 1
06:00 4 x 2.5km Mixed Relay*
08:00 4 x 2.5km Open Relay*
No live coverage
Canada v NorwayBronze Medal Game LIVE: 9.00am-11.00am C4 Online Stream 2 United States v Russia*
Gold Medal Game LIVE: 4.00pm-6.40pm C4 Online Stream 2
Russia v Great BritainSemi Final
Skip: Aileen Neilson
LIVE: 5.30am-8.30am C4 Online Stream 2
Canada v ChinaSemi Final Start: 5.30am No live coverage Russia/Great Britain v Canada/China* Gold Medal Match LIVE: 11.30am-1.30pm C4 Online Stream 2 Russia/Great Britain v Canada/China Bronze Medal Match Start: 11.30am
If GBR lose semi-final, bronze medal game live on C4 Online Stream 2 All timings/channels listed above subject to change. *denotes event finals. .
