After a devastating loss in the semifinal that took away their chance at playing for gold at the BTK Tires & OK Tire World Women’s Curling Championship, Team Canada skip Kerri Einarson decided a change of appearance just might bring her team some luck in Sunday’s bronze-medal game against Sweden.
She broke with tradition and a longstanding superstition before she took to the ice against the Swedes and pinned back her long straight black hair. Whatever magic that might have invoked, Eianrson and her rinkmates backed it with the performance of their lives Sunday at CN Centre, defeating Sweden 8-7 in an extra end.
It’s Canada’s first medal at the event since 2018.
“It’s an absolute honour to be able to medal at world’s,” said Einarson. “Yeah, we came here for gold but we’re coming home with something, and that’s pretty special.
“Definitely it puts a lot of things in perspective and there are other bigger things happening outside in this world right now but we’re super grateful and honoured to be here.”
Einarson elected to play the hit in the 11th end instead of trying for an open draw and it turned out the right choice. She knew she had the shot as the stone slid on its path to a bronze and raised her broom in celebration, touching off a roar from the CN Centre crowd.
“I knew they were going to come out and give us a really good game and we had to make some clutch shots when we needed to and that’s what we did,” said the 34-year-old skip.
“Every opportunity you get here at worlds it almost feels a little easier and I know last year we felt a lot of pressure and so this year we just went in relaxed, enjoy every single moment and embrace the fans and it’s been amazing.”
The first two fans Einarson embraced after the game were her twin eight-year-old daughters, Khloe and Kamryn, who shared in the moment of seeing their mom at her happiest.
But until that final shot was made, the tension of playing in their home country never ebbed for Team Canada and the pressure increased after Sweden scored two in the 10th to force the extra end. Their single point in the 11th was set up by lead Briane Meilleur making a tough shot to tick a Swedish guard out of the way, which left a Canadian stone in scoring position on the top of the four-foot, keeping the middle ice open to prevent their opponents from setting up the possibility of a steal.
Val Sweeting, Canada’s third, fought back tears describing what it feels to be going back home with a medal.
“There’s so much pride, we fought really hard for that bronze, I’m super-proud of us to podium this week,” said Sweeting, 34. “It was an up-and-down week, but just the love of the crowd and everything, we loved it out there. You just get goosebumps when they’re cheering for you. It was incredible.”
Second Shannon Birchard said the experience of having to recover a tough 1-5 start last year at world’s in Calgary paved the way for Canada’s success in Prince George and they were more battle-hardened when they stepped out to face the Swedes for bronze on Sunday.
“It’s a huge improvement over last year, we felt so much more comfortable here this year and I think we played awesome throughout the week,” said Birchard, 27. “We had a tough loss yesterday and earning a medal today, it means everything to us.”
Canada finished with a 9-3 record in third place, dropping them into the qualification round. They beat Denmark 9-8 in a playoff, then lost 9-6 to South Korea in the semifinal. As tough as it was to swallow, the three-time Scotties champions from Gimli Curling Club in Manitoba put that behind them and finished the world event on top of their game.
“Canada hasn’t got a medal at world’s in a long time so it’s really cool to get that medal for us,” said the 30-year-old Meilleur. “It was a hard field and a hard grind of a week but it was great to at least come out on top with at least a medal to show for it.”
Canada opened the game holding hammer and Einarson drew a single for the opening salvo. In the second end, on her second throw Einarson narrowly avoided a centre guard but hit one of her own out of the four-foot ring. The shooter ticked inwards, which averted a potential three for Sweden and Hasselborg drew for a 2-1 lead.
The teams traded single points in the third and fourth ends. Canada trailed 3-2 heading into the fifth but there was trouble brewing for the Canadians. It started when Einarson failed to keep her shooter in the rings taking out a Swedish stone on the corner in the eight-foot. Hasselborg avoided a centre guard and tucked her second-shot draw just off the button but Einarson wrecked off that same guard, allowing a steal on one for Sweden heading into the break.
In the sixth end, Canadian sweepers Meilleur and Birchard continued their mastery of the brooms and that allowed a come-around shot from Einarson that rubbed off one of their own and spun, burying the shooter deep behind cover. That left Canada with three well spread-out rocks in scoring position. Facing a possible four-point end, Hasselborg called a timeout and after talking it over with coach Wayne Middaugh she tried for a draw but was heavy, allowing Einarson to draw for three and that put Canada ahead 5-4, regaining the lead they lost in the second end.
Einarson lived up to her reputation as a heavy-hitter in the eighth end when she delivered the mustard on a double raise that removed a Swedish rock from the button and scored two for Canada which put them up 7-5.
Hasselborg blanked the ninth and had last-shot advantage down by two heading into the 10th. Sweden, holding hammer, took advantage of a pileup in the rings that forced Canada to clean out the traffic to avoid a possible big end. With Sweden holding second and third shot stones, Einarson limited the damage to two with a well-place hit-and-stick and the teams were off to an extra end.
“It’s tough right now but they played really well and we forced an extra and congrats to them, said Hasselborg, the 2018 Olympic champion and bronze medalist a month ago in Beijing.
The crowd count was 1,809, down from the event-high of 2,198 for the semifinals Saturday night. After nearly two years of playing in front of empty arenas during the pandemic, Hasselborg said her team fed off the CN Centre audience all week and it helped pick them up in their run to the medal round. Seeing curling fans again was in sharp contrast to what the curlers have been through the past two years during the pandemic.
“It’s been amazing to have the crowd here, I know we are not their Number 1 team but we fed off their energy,” said Hasselborg. “It’s been weird to have an open even like this when COVID still is around us. I love that we have been open but it’s tough too because if you get you’re out, and we still have to act normal and go to restaurants.
“I’m very eager to put COVID crap behind me and hopefully life will be more normal in the next coming years. This event has been amazing. This is the closest to normal I’ve felt in the two years time.”
The gold-medal game between the two-time defending champions from Switzerland and South Korea follows today at 4 p.m. at CN Centre. Switzerland advanced Saturday with a 7-5 semifinal win over Sweden.
Canada’s alternate, Krysten Karwacki, 30, who did not play in the event, as well as coach Reid Carruthers, will receive bronze medals with the team following the championship game.
