CALGARY — It might not have been the perfect day that Kerri Einarson was looking for, but things turned out positively just the same for Team Canada at the World Women’s Curling Championship on Thursday.
Einarson and her rink of third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Karlee Burgess split their two games, taking an 8-3 win over Korea’s Eunji Gim in the morning draw before falling 10-6 in an extra end to Norway’s Torild Bjoernstad in the evening draw.
As a result, Canada is now 8-2 in the round robin and have locked down a spot in the top six and, as a result, the playoffs. The goal now will be to win their final two games on Friday to give themselves a shot at the top two and a bye to the semifinal
They’re a great young team and they were making everything,” Einarson said of the loss to Norway. “They played well, they put some pressure on us and we just had some unfortunate things that didn’t go our way.”
Norway used the hammer to strike first, as Bjoernstad made a hit and stick to sit full four foot with her final shot and scored one.
Canada opted to blank the second end and things were setting up for an Einarson deuce in the third, but Bjoernstad made a nice takeout, roll and tapback with her final shot to force Einarson into a draw to the eight foot for one.
Norway picked up the first deuce of the game the next end, and it was a nice one, as Bjoernstad made a slick angle raise takeout to get rid of a Canada stone at the back of the button with her final shot.
Canada struggled to get anything set up in the fifth, but Einarson still had a raise takeout to score a pair with her final shot. She’d wreck on a guard out front, though, and Norway’s shot rock on the button would give them a steal of one and a 4-1 lead.
Things finally came together for Einarson in the sixth. Bjoernstad made a nice double takeout with her final shot but still left Canada counting one in the four foot, and Einarson would draw four foot for the deuce to get back within one.
Canada managed to get the force the next end, with Einarson freezing a pair of rocks to a Norway shot stone on the button. Bjoernstad decided she had no shot and threw her final rock away, taking one for a 5-3 lead through seven.
Norway put all sorts of pressure on Canada in the eighth, leaving Einarson with a draw to the button to score one. The shot would flirt with wrecking on a guard, but would curl just enough before stopping on the back of the button to make it a one-point game with two ends to play.
The ninth wasn’t the smoothest end for either team, and Bjoernstad ended up with what looked like a clean double for a deuce. Her shot stone would roll out, though, and Norway would settle for one and a 5-3 lead coming home.
Bjoernstad had a chance to end things with her final shot in the 10th, but her shot rock jammed on one of her own stones in the back of the house, leaving Einarson a hit and stick for the deuce. She’d make it, and the teams were off to an extra end.
There, Einarson drew full back four foot behind a Norway rock in the eight foot with her final rock, leaving Bjoernstad a runback takeout for the win. She’d make it, score four and claim the 10-6 victory.
Canada started the day with a comfortable win over Korea’s Eunji Kim, taking a 3-1 lead with a pair in the third end and after holding Korea to a single point in the fourth, adding another three in the fifth for a 6-2 edge. A steal in the sixth made things all but academic, and the teams would exchange single points the next two ends before Kim decided to shake hands.
Other action from the morning draw saw China’s Rui Wang roll to an 10-5 win over Turkey’s Dilsat Yildiz, Switzerland’s Xenia Schwaller down Norway 8-4 and Italy’s Stephania Constantini score five in the fifth on her way to an 8-1 win over Denmark’s Madeleine Dupont.
Afternoon draw scores saw Scotland’s Fay Henderson score five in the fifth in a 12-2 win over Australia’s Helen Williams, Sweden’s Isabella Wranaa defeat Korea 8-7 in an extra end, Switzerland roll to an 8-2 victory over United States’ Delaney Strouse and Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa defeat Denmark 8-3.
Other evening draw scores saw Japan defeat China 8-7 in an extra end, Sweden score two in an extra end to defeat Turkiye 8-6 and Scotland get past Italy 7-5
Standings after 17 draws are as follows:
Switzerland (Schwaller) 9-1 Q
Canada (Einarson) 8-2 Q
Japan (Fujisawa) 8-2 Q
Sweden (Wranaa) 8-3 Q
Korea (Gim) 6-4
China (Wang) 5-5
Italy (Constantini) 5-5
Turkiye (Yildiz) 5-5
Scotland (Henderson) 4-7
Denmark (Dupont) 3-7
Norway (Bjoernstad) 3-7
Australia (Williams) 1-9
United States (Strouse) 1-9
Canada has the morning off on Friday before facing Australia during the 2 p.m. draw and Japan in the 7 p.m. draw. You can catch all the action on TSN and at livescores.worldcurling.org.
