Team Canada back for bronze at world curling championship

Photo: World Curling Federation

Team Canada's Kerri Einarson and co. will once again be competing for a bronze medal on the world stage this weekend after dropping the semi-final game to Norway on Saturday 8-5.

The foursome captured a bronze medal in the 2022 World Curling Championship held in Prince George, and will now be looking to repeat history after coming up short against Marianne Roervik of Norway while playing in Sandviken, Sweden.

Unfortunately for Canada, one bad end has been their achilles heel throughout the tournament, and they did it again when the team gave up a score of three in the ninth end on Saturday. It would be the difference maker.

With the game tied at five, Norway was counting as many as four during the end. Canada made a draw behind cover to sit shot, but Norway played an in-off to sit three.

Canada would attempt to draw in on the in-turn side of the sheet, but turned up light. While Norway didn’t score a fourth point, it was late enough in the game that the three-ender led the nation to its first world women’s final since 2004.

“It was a pretty unfortunate ninth end with too many back-to-back misses. We got ourselves in some trouble and I made a good one on my first, but she came up with a really good shot,” Einarson said.

“I think we needed to leave our first one a hair higher or go deeper. We were right in between and it was just top four. We needed tee-line or better.”

Canada had a good start to the game and forced its opponents to chase. In the first end, Team Einarson applied pressure by getting a shot behind cover and it forced Norway into making precise shots.

Eventually Norway tucked a shot away into the back four-foot and while she had a chance to score two, Norway settled for a single.

Canada blanked the second and scored two in the third for the early lead. On Einarson’s first, the team made a hit-and-roll behind cover, followed by a great team draw for the second point.

“We played really well. We just have to be better on our execution. We’re building and it feels good to be making some good shots and reading the ice better, we’ve just had one bad end,” Einarson said.

Norway scored another three-ender in the fourth end. That, combined with their ninith end three-ender would seal the fate of team Canada.

Canada takes on host nation Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg in a rematch of last year’s bronze-medal game on Sunday at 1 a.m. Pacific.