Einarson, Canada fall to Korea in semis at Pan Continental Curling Championships

KELOWNA, B.C. — Canada's Kerri Einarson dropped an 8-4 decision to South Korea's Eunji Gim in the women's semifinal at the Pan Continental Curling Championships on Thursday night.

Einarson's team from Gimli, Man., gave up a steal of two in the ninth end and was run out of rocks in the 10th.

The Canadians will settle for an appearance in Friday's bronze-medal game against American Tabitha Peterson. Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa beat Peterson 10-8 in an extra end in the other semifinal.

Einarson, who won bronze at the inaugural Pan Continental event last year, has yet to reach the top step on a World Curling Federation podium.

“It’s getting old,” she said of the third-place game. “I love playing for a medal, but it’s tough when you just can’t get over that hurdle.”

In men's play, Brad Gushue’s team from St. John’s, N.L., capped its round-robin schedule earlier in the day with an 11-1 rout of Guyana’s Rayad Husain.

“The focus for us in the first couple ends was to go out and play strong, get some rocks in play, make some good shots and hopefully get a bit of a lead," Gushue said. "We did that and I thought we played pretty well."

Gushue was tied with Japan's Riku Yanagisawa at 6-1 but Canada secured the top seed thanks to its head-to-head record. Canada will play American Andrew Stopera (4-3) in Friday's semifinals.

Einarson posted a 17-1 rout of Mexico's Adriana Camarena in her early game to finish with a round-robin record of 4-3.

The world championship qualifier continues through Saturday at the Kelowna Curling Club.

Canada has already secured berths in the world championships later this season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2023.