Einarson’s Canada team eliminated from world women’s curling championship

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/05/2021 (1849 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kerri Einarson’s spectacular winter and spring run in Calgary’s curling bubble finally ended Saturday.

She and her Gimli teammates, representing Canada, fell 8-3 in eight ends to Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg in a morning playoff game and were eliminated from the world women’s championship.

The Swedes, the reigning Olympic champions, wielded the hammer with might, posting deuces in the third, fifth and seventh ends, while Canada struggled to generate offence.

Einarson trailed 5-2 at the fifth-end break.

“Disappointed, I had a really good feeling going into that game, and we just got behind the eight-ball a little early and just needed to bail ourselves out. We just weren’t as sharp as we have been,” said Einarson. “We just had to have better rock placement.”

Alina Kovaleva of the Russian Curling Federation defeated Sweden 8-7 Saturday night in the late semifinal. Top-ranked Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland defeated Tabitha Peterson of the United States 7-3 in the early semifinal.

The Americans slipped past Madeleine Dupont of Denmark 8-7 earlier in the day.

Today’s bronze-medal game between the U.S. and Sweden is set for 9:30 a.m., while the final between Switzerland and the Russian Curling Federation goes at 2 p.m. Both games will be televised on TSN.

Each member of the Hasselborg crew curled above 90 per cent against Canada, while third Val Sweeting was most precise of the Canadian foursome at 84 per cent.

“We struggled a bit early and they just ran away and made everything after that,” said Sweeting, the only non-Manitoban in the group. She resides in St. Paul, Alta., about 500 km northeast of Calgary.

Einarson makes her home in Camp Morton, while second Shannon Birchard, lead Briane Meilleur and alternate Krysten Karwacki hail from Winnipeg.

“We had a glimmer of hope in the eighth but then she made that nice run double. We fought hard, we left it all out there. It wasn’t the game… we just kept trying to make shots and figuring it out. It just wasn’t our morning,” said Sweeting.

Already leading 7-3, Hasselborg’s terrific raise double-takeout in the eighth end ruined Canada’s chance for a big end. Instead, Einarson hit for a possible one but rolled too far and surrendered a steal.

With that, the two-time national Scotties champions conceded, signalling an historical moment for Canadian curling. Never before has the country missed the medal podium at each of the men’s and women’s world championships.

Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher fell short last month at WinSport Arena.

But neither the tall foreheads of the sport nor fans from coast to coast should start to fret, said Sweden’s coach Wayne Middaugh, a member of Canada’s Curling Hall of Fame and three-time world champion who competed in his 10th Brier in early March.

“I think the other countries have gotten a lot better. Canada still has outstanding teams, and when you put your best out there, whether it’s men’s or ladies, you get into the (Kevin) Koes or the (Kerri) Einarsons, they’re fantastic teams,” Middaugh said. “It turned out this week (the breaks) didn’t go their way for Canada that they wanted.

“There’s a lot of great talent in Canada. I would never change anything, the way they do things.”

Hasselborg, who was defeated by former Winnipegger Jennifer Jones in the 2019 world final, said each battle she’s had against a Canadian opponent over the years has been epic.

“We usually don’t look at the opponent so much, but you definitely have to beat the best,” she said. “No game here is a given. The curling world is so strong, and on the women’s side it’s just amazing. It’s a fantastic time, you always have to play your best, and I love that.”

Canada stumbled out of the gate last week, registering just one victory in its first six games before rallying to finish in sixth place (7-6) to make the playoffs and secure the country’s spot in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

That’s just one of many highlights from the hub Alberta city.

Einarson captured the Scotties title in late February, defeating long-time rival Rachel Homan of Ottawa in the final. The squad also made the playoffs in two Grand Slam of Curling tour events, winning the Players’ Championship in late April.

The 33-year-old skip then partnered with former Olympic and world champion Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., to earn the Canadian mixed doubles title in late March. The duo heads to Aberdeen, Scotland for the world championship in a few weeks.

“It’s been absolutely amazing. We’re so grateful for this opportunity to even be able to play with everything happening in this world right now. So, we’re just really thankful,” Einarson said. “We’ve had a lot of great success here and we can’t be disappointed. We fought extremely hard. A lot of teams might not have come back from 1-5 but we never quit and I’m so very proud of my teammates,” said Einarson, a mom of twin seven-year-old girls.

“I’ve learned so much about myself and my teammates. It’s our first time on the world stage and we became a tight-knit family in here. We’ll grow from this and learn from this, and I’m so excited to see what’s next for us.”

Despite the hectic schedule and enjoying just a weeklong break from the bubble during the men’s world championship, Einarson refused to offer fatigue as a contributing factor in the team’s struggles against Sweden.

“Honestly, I feel great. We’ve been getting lots of treatment, and mentally, physically I felt very good,” she said. “So, not even gonna blame it on that because that’s not what it is. Just execution, that’s what it was.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell