Team Canada in playoffs after a little help from Swiss

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This article was published 07/05/2021 (1809 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Kerri Einarson got a much-needed massage Friday afternoon but that’s not what relieved the immense pressure on the Gimli skip’s shoulders.

Team Canada, guided by Einarson, with third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Briane Meilleur also aboard, qualified for the playoffs of the world women’s championship in the Calgary bubble.

Canada took care of its own business on the morning draw, downing China 6-4 to finish with a 7-6 round-robin record. Hours later, Einarson went for a massage while the afternoon games got going and then stopped by the rink for an update.

Switzerland had built a big lead on Germany — exactly what the two-time national Scotties champions needed.

“I looked at the scoreboard and was like, ‘Oh, perfect!'” Einarson said, in a Zoom chat Friday evening. Indeed, the Canadians got by with a little help from their Swiss friends.

“We definitely need to buy them a round. They did us a solid, so we definitely appreciate it.”

Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni went on to beat Germany 8-3. With that, Canada cracked the championship’s top six, booking a spot in Saturday’s qualifying round and a matchup against Anna Hasselborg of Sweden (10-3).

The must-win contest is set for 10 a.m. (TSN), with the survivor moving on to one of two semifinals later in the day.

A precious perk in making the playoffs is the procurement of an Olympic berth for Canada at the 2022 Beijing Games.

“It’s such a relief. I’m not going to lie, I didn’t think it would be that stressful but it was, especially looking at our record when we were 1-5 it was like, ‘Oh, man. We’ve got some work to do,’ But we never gave up. We just kept battling,” said Einarson.

“I’m so proud of us for putting ourselves into the playoffs.”

On Monday, it appeared Einarson and her teammates had simply run out of steam after a couple of months of pressure-packed competition, earning just one victory in its first six tests to begin the world championship. They dropped a 6-5 decision to Hasselborg in the opener for both teams eight days ago.

Canadian coach Heather Nedohin said the squad showed tremendous strength of character to prevail in six of its final seven outings.

“The girls were magnificent. I wish everyone got a chance to see the true character and the grit and the grind that they played with,” Nedohin said. “My job was letting them know to believe in each other and to trust it, and to play with heart.”

Despite a roller-coaster week, Einarson gets a fresh start and is just three victories away from a world crown.

“Whole new bonspiel,” she said. “Our backs are still against the wall. We don’t have any more lives left, so just gotta keep fighting.”

The powerful Swiss quartet finished first in round-robin play at 12-1, receiving a bye to the semifinals along with the Alina Kovaleva of the Russian Curling Federation (11-2).

Denmark’s Madeleine Dupont (8-5), and Tabitha Peterson of the U.S. (7-6) also made the playoffs and meet in a qualifying game as well.

“It’s definitely not a cakewalk. It’s the six-best teams now… we know what we need to bring to the table to be our best,” added Einarson.

Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones captured Canada’s last gold medal three years ago. Birchard was the alternate on the team, participating in three games as the St. Vital team went the distance in North Bay, Ont.

She’s taken nothing for granted in the drive for another world title for Manitoba.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity and we want to make the best of it. Just being in the qualifying game is fantastic and we would have taken it at the beginning of the week, no doubt,” said Birchard.

“We can wipe out our previous games and carry forward our confidence and everything we’ve learned so far and come out firing.”

Canada stole a pair on China’s Yu Han in the opening end and was in command the rest of the way, leading 4-1 after four and 6-3 after eight.

The Einarson crew missed an opportunity to wear the Maple Leaf a year ago when the 2020 world championship in Prince George, B.C., was scrapped, owing to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Tirinzoni won in 2019 and is considered the defending champion in Calgary.

The semifinals are slated for 4 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

The bronze-medal game is at 9:30 a.m. while the championship’s gold-medal contest is set for Sunday at 2 p.m.

EunJung Kim of Korea also finished 7-6, tied with Canada and the U.S., but was eliminated by the World Curling Federation’s tie-breaking formula. There are no tie-breaker games at the world championship. Teams advance based on head-to-head play, or, as a last resort, their cumulative accuracy during pre-game draws to the button.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca  Twitter: @WFPJasonBell