CALGARY — A week of stellar play came to a disappointing end for Canada’s Kerri Einarson at the World Women’s Curling Championship on Sunday afternoon.
Einarson and her rink of third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Karlee Burgees dropped a 7-5 decision to Switzerland’s Xenia Schwaller in the gold medal game at WinSport Arena in Calgary, settling for the silver medal.
It’s the first world championship at the senior level for Schwaller, third Selina Gafner, second Fabienne Rieder and lead Selina Rychiger since winning the world junior title in 2024.
As the score would indicate, the championship game was a close one.
A relatively busy first end turned into a potential blank once the thirds from both teams cleaned things up, and Schwaller would get a hit and roll out to carry the hammer into the second frame.
There, Einarson attempted a touch-weight double takeout with her final shot, but was only able to get one while rolling out herself. That left Schwaller with a wide open draw, and she’d put it on the button for a 2-0 lead.
Schwaller made a nice double takeout on her final shot in the third to prevent Canada from putting up a deuce of their own, and Einarson would hit and roll out with her final shot to get the blank.
Einarson got that deuce right back the next end, though, as sitting shot stone on the pin with Schwaller second shot back four foot, she’d put a draw right next to her counter to pick up a pair.
The fifth end saw Einarson come up light on an attempted draw into the four foot to lay two with her final rock, and Schwaller would make an open takeout to get the deuce and take a 4-2 lead into the break.
A nice double by Schwaller with her final shot of the sixth left Switzerland laying a pair of rocks top eight foot, and Einarson would draw to the four foot to get back within one.
Einarson sat a pair staggered top and back eight foot at the final shot in the eighth and Schwaller would attempt to hit and stick to score one. She’d overcurl and roll out though, giving Canada the steal to tie things up 4-4.
On her final shot of the next end, a slight overcurl on Einarson’s final shot saw an attempted hit and stick roll out, and Schwaller took advantage of the mistake to draw back eight foot for the deuce and a 6-4 edge with two ends to play.
Schwaller pulled off a great draw to the button behind cover in the ninth, leaving Einarson a double runback takeout for a potential deuce. She’d get things moving, but the shot rock would roll too far, leaving Canada with a single point and a 6-5 deficit coming home without hammer.
A great runback double by Schwaller with her first shot of the final end left Einarson with a raise tap back to keep her hopes alive, but she’d come in a touch too light, giving Switzerland the single point for the 7-5 win.
Sweden’s Isabella Wranaa defeated Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa 8-5 to claim bronze.
