Canada between rock and a hard place

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This article was published 01/05/2021 (1815 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Finish what you started.

That’s the mantra going forward for Team Canada as it tries to rebound from a calamitous Saturday at the world women’s curling championship in Calgary.

Kerri Einarson’s squad from Gimli spontaneously combusted in the late stages of a pair of games at WinSport Arena, slumping to a 1-3 record through two days of the 14-team international rockfest.

Canada held a three-point cushion after four ends but stumbled down the stretch, falling 8-7 to Alina Kovaleva of the Russian Curling Federation (RCF) in the evening draw. Earlier in the day, Einarson was in total command through six ends before a considerable lapse, falling 8-5 to Silvana Tirinzoni of Switerzland.

“We learned a lot and, yes, we just have to park it. We just have to keep fighting and grinding. It’s a long, long haul, so we just gotta keep building off the good things we are doing out there,” said Einarson, following the defeat to Kovaleva. “We are hitting some unlucky breaks and a lot of teams are making great shots against us and we just aren’t capitalizing. So, we just gotta be a little sharper in those later ends.”

RCF posted a mammoth three in the eighth end to vault ahead 7-6 and then held Canada to a single in the ninth when Einarson rolled too far on a try for a deuce. Kovaleva calmly drew the four-foot with her last stone in the 10th to improve to an unblemished 4-0 record.

“They put a lot of pressure on us… we have to sharpen up and don’t give up three, that would be ideal,” said third Val Sweeting. “We’ re definitely leaving it all out there. We’re playing well as a team. We just gotta stay strong until the end.”

The Einarson crew’s late troubles mimicked the manner in which it dropped its championship opener Friday to Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg, reinforcing the notion that nothing will come easy at this talent-laden event.

In four outings to begin the championship, Canada has been outscored 16-6 after the sixth end, and 12-1 following the seventh.

Einarson’s team, the two-time reigning Scotties national champions, registered its only win came Friday night against the Czech Republic.

Canada still has nine round-robin games to go. Six teams will make the playoffs, and those top six will secure a spot at the 2022 Winter Olympics for their respective nations.

The Manitobans had relatively few holes in their game against the Swiss. Yet, a solid performance wasn’t enough against 2019 world women’s champions.

Trailing by two, Tirinzoni blanked the seventh end, posted a massive count of three in the eighth to vault to a 6-5 lead and then swiped two more in the ninth on Canada.

Back-to-back miscues by the pride of Camp Morton were disastrous for the two-time Scotties champions. Einarson was at least three metres light on a key draw with her first rock and then needed a nose hit against three to score a single but, instead, rolled away to surrender a pair.

“In the eighth end, (Alina Paetz) made a really great shot to put the pressure on us. Two good shots, because she drew to the four-foot for three and it was a tough-looking draw,” said Einarson.

Paetz is the Swiss vice-skip but tosses the final two rocks.

“I just maybe a little bit of focus in that ninth end, and just kind of babied my first one. It kind of grabbed. I had perfect draw weight all game. It happens and we just have to move forward. It’s a long, gruelling week.”

Switzerland closed out the day tied with Sweden and Scotland atop the 14-team, round-robin standings at 3-0.

“It’s not so much about (beating) Canada, it’s more about the win itself. Every win we get is important,” said Tirinzoni, who earned gold at the 2019 world championship in Silkeborg, Denmark. The 2020 event, slated for Prince George, B.C., was cancelled owing to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s great we have the opportunity to defend our title. We weren’t sure a few months ago. But now we are here and playing, and it’s great.”

Einarson said the game has evolved to point where executing with near precision often doesn’t cut it.

“Rock placement’s huge. If you get caught in once spot, you’re done. You have to have really good rock placement. Unfortunately, I was just a little bit off in the last couple of ends,” said Einarson. “At this level, no (room for error). You have to be absolutely perfect all the time.”

And she was for five ends, pitching a 100 per-cent game through five ends against the Swiss.

“We just have to play a full 10 ends, and that’s all it comes down to. Teams are going to make really good shots against us and we have to bounce back,” said lead Briane Meilleur. “We have to keep battling and be that much better than the team we’re playing against.”

Canada challenges the United States on the 3 p.m. draw Sunday, the lone test of the day for each team.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca 

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell