Missed opportunity for Canada

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This article was published 23/03/2023 (1095 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Team Canada was poised to break from the pack and take direct aim at the semifinals of the 2023 World Women’s Curling Championship.

A win Thursday over Japan would have pushed Gimli skip Kerri Einarson and her teammates to a 7-3 record and at least a tie for second place in the 13-team field heading into the final day of round-robin action in Sandviken, Sweden.

Instead, Einarson, third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and Briane Harris let the opportunity slip through their fingers.

After controlling the first five ends to take a 3-1 lead, Canada allowed the Japanese squad, guided by Satsuki Fujisawa, to score two points in the sixth end and then steal another pair in the eighth en route to a tough-to-swallow 6-5 defeat.

Canada finished the one-game day with a 6-4 record and trapped in a major logjam in the standings.

Einarson tied the game 5-5 with a deuce in the ninth, necessitating the need for a last-end steal. The chance was there, but on her last effort to tap out shot stone, her rock over-curled and nicked a centre guard, allowing the Japanese to score a single for the win.

“We feel like we’re playing better than we have been and that we’re trending in the right direction,” said Einarson, in a phone interview with the Free Press. “We just had some unfortunate misses in the eighth end that kind of determined that game… I think everyone is throwing really well and our attitudes are really positive, and trying to stay positive and enjoying ourselves out there.”

The round-robin ends Friday, while playoffs begin Saturday. The top two teams earn byes to the semis, while the other four must play the first round of playoffs.

Switzerland sits on top of the standings at 10-0 and has a semifinal spot locked up, while Sweden is next at 7-3. Italy and Norway are also 6-4, The top five teams each play twice on Friday, while the U.S. (6-5) has just one contest left.

Turkey, Japan and Germany are all at 5-5.

The Einarson crew controls its own destiny. Canada plays Turkey’s Dilsat Yildiz (3 a.m. CT) and Denmark’s Madeleine Dupont (8 a.m. CT), and even just one triumph would clinch a playoff spot.

A pair of wins could still vault the team to a second-place finish, as long as Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg loses one of its two tests (Italy and Denmark) on Friday.

“We just need to take it one game at a time and see where we fall at the end of the round robin. We don’t really want to look at what other teams are doing,” said Einarson.

“We just need to focus on ourselves and play like we did today against Turkey. They’re going to give us a really good game, they’ve been playing really well.”

On Einarson’s last shot of the 10th against Japan, some miscommunication on the weight of the rock led to some over-carving by the front end, causing it to wreck.

“We curled it too early and it just rubbed. It was just a little bit mismanaged, but it was really close,” said Einarson.

Head coach Reid Carruthers admitted the situation could’ve been handled better.

“It was just one of those throws that was a high-pressure moment and I think collectively as a group, the energy was a little bit higher than what we’d normally want to see,” he said.

“Instead of being patient, it was almost a little bit more panicky, but I think if we’re faced with that situation again, the girls are going to go and make it.”

Carruthers said the prime objective has always been to just crack the top six.

“The team is starting to play as well as they can. We’re getting close. The extra game here or there isn’t going to hurt us. At this point, I’m more concerned about coming out and playing solid. If that means we get a bye or don’t get a bye, it is what it is,” said Carruthers.

“It’s just about coming out and trying to get our best performance, especially at this point in the week.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31