Gregor Ewan has been selected to represent Scotland, alongside Meggan Dawson-Farrell, at the inaugural World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Championships.
Ewan, who hails from Elgin, will compete at the tournament, which will be held in Lohja, Finland, between April 30 and May 5.
The pair will reunite after competing at the Winter Paralympics and World Championships together. Ewan and Dawson-Farrell were also chosen as Great Britain’s flag bearers at the Winter Paralympics opening ceremony in Beijing.
The Elgin curler’s selection for the Mixed Doubles Championships is the latest reward for the way he responded to get back on the British curling programme after a three-year absence.
Ewan said: “Over the last few years we have put in a lot of time and effort into getting fitter, being as healthy as we can be and making the right choices to be best prepared for this season.
“To be selected and to be given this opportunity to go out and represent Great Britain and now Scotland again is a huge honour, and we just have to go out now and do our best.”
And while the basic requirements of mixed doubles are similar to those of the four-player team game, Ewan acknowledged there will be adjustments required.
“Mixed doubles is a quicker game, with different strategies in this format, but it’s still right shot at the right time I guess,” the three-time Paralympian added.
“In some ways only having two of you on ice at a time, communicating with each other also makes it simpler to talk through what you need to do.
“I have great rapport with Meggan and it is easier to keep that rapport going in the game when it is just the two of us.”
“I know Meggan can make the shots and this will be new for everyone, so she will take this in her stride.
“It will be those who get on top of the ice and the time management and the faster pace of game that do well and we want to be in among them.”
For Dawson-Farrell, who only took up wheelchair curling five years ago, the opportunity to compete with Ewan again is an exciting one.
She said: “I wouldn’t want to be doing this with anyone other than Gregor.
“We have a great laugh and he is great support both on and off the ice and we communicate well with each other, so we don’t have to worry about what we say or how we say it – we just understand each other and that makes it easy.
“We will have a lot of fun on the ice together and hopefully that will help us stay relaxed and enjoy every moment, and I am interested to see what we can do together.”