Canada falls to Switzerland, tops New Zealand at women's curling worlds

SANDVIKEN, Sweden — It was mixed results for Canada on Tuesday at the world women's curling championship with a narrow loss to undefeated Switzerland and a comfortable victory over winless New Zealand.

Kerri Einarson's squad from Gimli, Man., opened its day with a 7-6 defeat at the hands of three-time defending champion Silvana Tirinzoni before rebounding with a 10-4 win over New Zealand's Bridget Becker.

The results left Canada tied for second place at 5-2 through 11 draws heading into games Wednesday against Germany and South Korea.

"It’s a little challenging out there and it’s taking a little longer to buy into and adapt to the changes in the game," Canada lead Brianne Harris said. "We had a better day yesterday and then today was just a little off again. Hopefully we can build tomorrow and have our best day yet."

Tirinzoni had her squad ahead 6-4 following a three-point fifth end and a steal of one in the sixth.

After a blank seventh, Einarson scored one in the eighth and tied the match 6-6 with a steal in the ninth.

With the hammer in the final end, Tirinzoni scored one to cement the win and improve to 6-0.

Against New Zealand, Einarson and teammates Harris, Val Sweeting and Shannon Birchard broke open a 2-2 tie with three points in the third end.

Leading 6-4 after six ends, Canada scored two in the seventh, and the teams shook hands after a Canadian steal of two in the eighth.

New Zealand fell to 0-7.

“We were looking to string some shots together," Harris said. "I still don’t think this was our best game, though. It’s nice to get a win anyway but we need to make a few more shots going forward."

In other Draw 11 results, Sweden edged Japan 5-4, Italy beat Scotland 7-6 and the United States thumped Denmark 7-2.

Italy was tied with Canada at 5-2, with South Korea and Norway next at 4-2.

The top six teams in the 13-team field qualify for the playoff round. The final is scheduled for Sunday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2023.