Canada’s Einarson wins third straight by beating Sweden 10-8 in women’s world curling
PRINCE GEORGE, BC – Canada’s Kerri Einarson overcame a high obstacle in her bid for a world championship in curling for women with a 10-8 victory over Sweden on Wednesday.
PRINCE GEORGE, BC – Canada’s Kerri Einarson overcame a high obstacle in her bid for a world championship in curling for women with a 10-8 victory over Sweden on Wednesday.
Anna Hasselborg’s Swedish foursome won Olympic gold in 2018, bronze last month in Beijing and twice finished second in the world.
So the host country’s victory over a team ranked third in the world was a huge assist in Einarsson’s hunt for a place in the playoffs.
“They are one of the best in the world, so it was a huge win for us and a huge confidence going forward,” said Einarson.
Canada ended Wednesday with a 6-2 record due to a win that Scotland lost.
After two losses, the Scots withdrew on Sunday as four players tested positive for covid-19.
The top six teams at the end of the preliminary round on Friday advance to the playoffs.
The top two get to say goodbye to Saturday’s semi-finals with third to sixth games that day to join them. The medal games are Sunday.
Defending champions Switzerland topped the score 8-0. Sweden was 7-2 ahead of Canada and South Korea also at 6-2.
Denmark and the USA were 5-3 ahead of Japan at 5-4 and Germany and Norway both 4-4.
The Czech Republic had 2-6, Italy 2-7 and Turkey unbeaten in eight matches.
Canada led 5-0 after three finishes and 8-2 after five against the Swedes, but Hasselborg did not want to go quiet and scrapped himself to a 10th finish.
When the hammer came home, Einarson did not have to throw his last stone when Hasselborg came up with a light on a draw.
“We definitely had to play well to beat them,” said Canadian leader Briane Meilleur. “They played really well in the last half, so I’m glad we stayed there.
“It was good to have a little head start just to have a little buffer.”
Each team throws two draws before the game to the button, which is measured to not only determine which team gets the hammer in the first end.
Instead of tiebreaker games, accumulated measurements also determine seeding if the team were to draw on Friday.
A measurement error in Hasselborg’s draw before the match initially showed that she was closer to the center’s pinhole hole than Einarson.
The Swedish skipper knew she was not and did not dispute Einarson’s profit hammer.
But Hasselborg was not happy with a rematch that was done with the help of the officials’ diagrams and video to determine where her stone ended up in the rings, and asked for another one after the match.
“They measured it wrong from the beginning. We did not have the 14.4 centimeters that were on the scoreboard, but they kicked away (the stone) and they had to re-measure where they thought it was,” she explained. “We were not happy with that location.
“Because LSD (last-stone draw) is so important here, we do not want to lose a few inches that were wrong.”
Although Canada did not play against Scotland later, they still had to show up and do their draws before a 30-minute training session.
“The push of a button plays a big role in this championship,” pointed out Canadian coach Reid Carruthers.
Hammer in the first end was crucial in Canada’s victory. Einarson made three in an artistic split.
The split is a feature of hitting your own stone in the rings while you roll in your own shooter to score as well.
“Just to lower your weight a little and make that split, they’re big shots,” said the Canadian skipper. “It really set the tone for the game.”
Einarson, third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and Meilleur made the best of Sweden’s early misses by stealing singles in the second and third end and another three-pointer in the fifth.
“I did not feel comfortable yet, until the match was over,” said Einarson.
The team from Manitoba’s Gimli Curling Club created momentum, albeit with a third straight win. Sweeting showed over 90 percent of the shooting accuracy in a third straight match.
Canada’s game was on an outside sheet at the CN Center. The majority of the 1,500 spectators sat on the seats above and knew how important the match was for the home team’s fortune.
“It’s amazing to have such an electric audience,” Meilleur said. “So it was really fun to play out there with all these cheers and hopefully they keep it that way.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on March 23, 2022.
Donna Spencer, Canadian Press