Team Einarson’s path to gold at the World Women’s Curling Championship
Published
Canada’s Team Kerri Einarson is set to begin their “unfinished business” on Saturday as the 2023 World Women’s Curling Championship begins in Sandviken, Sweden.
Last month in Kamloops, B.C., Einarson and her rink out of the Gimli Curling Club – also featuring third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard, lead Briane Harris, alternate Krysten Karwacki and coach Reid Carruthers – defeated provincial rival Team Jennifer Jones in the final of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts to capture their fourth consecutive national championship.
They joined Colleen Jones’ famed Halifax rink as the only teams to win the Canadian women’s curling title four straight years.
But, as they said all week, that was just the steppingstone to their true goal going into this season: claiming the gold medal at the world championship.
“We expect to play well [at worlds],” Einarson said after the Scotties win. “And hopefully bring home gold for Canada. We’re going to give it our all.”
Team Einarson beat Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg in last year’s bronze-medal game from Prince George, B.C., after missing the podium a year prior inside the Calgary bubble. The 2020 World Women’s Curling Championship was cancelled because of COVID-19.
“We were happy with the bronze last year, but we really want that gold. We want to be on the top of the podium, and I think if we can put together a great week then we have a really good chance at it,” said Birchard.
Einarson and Team Canada are the last of the 13-team field to qualify for the event, taking place at Göransson Arena in Sweden from March 18-26.
Heading into this event, Team Einarson is ranked first in the world with a 45-14 record this season, highlighted by wins at the Masters and Scotties.
Canada hasn’t won gold at the women’s worlds since 2018 when Jones accomplished the feat.
Following a 12-game round robin, the top six teams advance to the playoffs with the top two earning byes straight to the semi-final.
Let’s take a closer look at Canada’s path to the gold medal in Sweden.
Game 1 – Sweden (Team Anna Hasselborg)
Saturday, March 18 at 2pm ET on TSN1, TSN.ca and the TSN App
Lineup
Skip: Anna Hasselborg
Third: Sara McManus
Second: Agnes Knochenhauer
Lead: Sofia Mabergs
Breakdown
This year’s championship kicks off with a bang between long-time curling rivals in Canada and Sweden.
The Nordic nation is hosting the World Women’s Curling Championship for the first time since 2004, so you know Hasselborg and the 2018 Olympic gold medalists are going to be fired up to play well on home ice.
This foursome has been together since the 2015-16 season and are one of the most consistent teams on Tour, but have yet to stand atop the podium at this event, losing in the 2018 and 2019 finals.
Einarson defeated Hasselborg in last year’s bronze-medal game while Hasselborg did the same to Einarson in the quarterfinal round at the 2021 worlds.
Sweden will be a tough matchup to kick things off for Canada.
Game 2 – United States (Team Tabitha Peterson)
Sunday, March 19 at 4am ET on TSN3, TSN.ca and the TSN App
Lineup
Skip: Tabitha Peterson
Third: Cory Thiesse
Second: Becca Hamilton
Lead: Tara Peterson
Breakdown
It doesn’t get any easier for Einarson and company on Day 2.
Skip Tabitha Peterson, 34, is bringing back a similar crew that won bronze at the 2021 worlds and finished with a 4-5 record at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Vice Nina Roth has since been replaced by 28-year-old Cory Thiesse, who skipped the Americans at last year’s worlds to an 8-4 round-robin performance, eventually losing to Sweden in the quarters.
The Untied States may be even more stacked this year and Canada will need to get at least a split in these first two games in order to not fall behind early.
Game 3 – Norway (Team Marianne Roervik)
Sunday, March 19 at 2pm ET on TSN3, TSN.ca and the TSN App
Lineup
Fourth: Kristin Skaslien
Skip: Marianne Roervik
Second: Mille Haslev Nordbye
Lead: Martine Ronning
Marianne Roervik, 39, has made five appearances at the World Women’s Curling Championship, including missing the playoffs with a 5-7 record last year in Prince George.
Roervik calls the game while Kristin Skaslien, an Olympic silver and bronze medalist in mixed doubles, throws last stones for this rink out of Lillehammer.
Team Roervik have made six finals on Tour this season, losing five of them.
Game 4 – Italy (Team Stefania Constantini)
Monday, March 20 at 4am ET on TSN1, TSN.ca and the TSN App
Lineup
Skip: Stefania Constantini
Third: Marta Lo Deserto
Second: Angela Romei
Lead: Giulia Zardini Lacedelli
Breakdown
Stefania Constantini had quite the curling campaign last year.
The 23-year-old and her mixed-doubles partner Amos Mosaner shocked the curling world last winter when they went undefeated to capture the gold-medal at the Olympics.
Skipping at the worlds, Constantini led her Italian side to a 4-8 record, a two-win improvement from the year prior.
With Joel Retornaz’s strong play on the men’s side, Italy has become a formidable foe on the world curling stage.
Constantini could be a dark horse to compete for a playoff spot in Sandviken if that progression continues.
Game 5 – Scotland (Team Rebecca Morrison)
Monday, March 20 at 2pm ET on TSN 1/3, TSN.ca and the TSN App
Lineup
Skip: Rebecca Morrison
Third: Gina Aitken
Second: Sophie Sinclair
Lead: Sophie Jackson
Breakdown
Without any context, Scotland’s 0-12 record at last year’s world championship may look shocking for a nation that has always competed strongly on the international stage.
However, the reason for their winless showing was something completely out of their control.
Upon the start of the worlds in Prince George, skip Rebecca Morrison and alternate Fay Henderson tested positive for COVID-19, meaning the Scots could only play with three curlers.
They opened the tournament with two losses before two more players tested positive despite Beth Farmer being on route from Scotland to help out.
At that point, they had no other choice than to pull out of the tournament.
Scotland is bringing back the same foursome to Sweden and should be strong playoff contenders this time around.
Led by their 26-year-old skip, Team Morrison have posted a 42-24 record this season, highlighted by bronze-medal performance at the European Curling Championship.
With 2022 Olympic champion Eve Muirhead now retired, the future is now for women’s curling in Scotland.
Game 6 – Switzerland (Team Silvana Tirinzoni)
Tuesday, March 21 at 9am ET on TSN 1/4, TSN.ca and the TSN App
Lineup
Fourth: Alina Pätz
Skip: Silvana Tirinzoni
Second: Carole Howald
Lead: Briar Schwaller-Hürlimann
Breakdown
Time to play the champs.
Team Silvana Tirinzoni – and Switzerland as a whole – have simply dominated women’s curling in the past decade.
Einarson’s rink may have won four straight Scotties titles, but Tirinzoni is going for a fourth consecutive world title in Sweden after defeating South Korea’s EunJung Kim in last year’s gold-medal game to cap a perfect 14-0 championship.
Switzerland pounded Canada, 11-3, in the round-robin last year.
As a country, Switzerland has won seven world championships since 2012 and will be going for their 10th all-time at this year’s event.
Team Tirinzoni sports a new front-end duo this season, featuring Briar Schwaller-Hürlimann at lead and Carole Howald at second.
The new lineup hasn’t slowed this squad down at all in 2022-23, posting a red-hot 62-18 record with six wins, including beating Einarson in the final of the National on the Grand Slam circuit in October.
The last country to win four straight gold medals at the World Women’s Curling Championship was Canada from 1983 to 1987, but that was with four different teams representing the nation.
Can Tirinzoni make history in Sweden?
Game 7 – New Zealand (Team Jessica Smith)
Tuesday, March 21 at 2pm ET on TSN 1/4, TSN.ca and the TSN App
Lineup
Skip: Jessica Smith
Third: Holly Thompson
Second: Bridget Becker
Lead: Natalie Thurlow
Breakdown
History will be made in Sweden as New Zealand will make its first appearance at the World Women’s Curling Championship.
Team Jessica Smith earned the entry with a strong 4-4 finish at the inaugural Pan Continental Curling Championships earlier this season.
Einarson and Team Canada beat the New Zealand foursome, 11-3, in that event.
Canada will be the heavy favourites in this contest and can’t afford any upsets here as every win counts towards a spot in the final six.
Game 8 – Germany (Team Daniela Jentsch)
Wednesday, March 22 at 9am ET on TSN1, TSN.ca and the TSN App
Lineup
Skip: Daniela Jentsch
Third: Emira Abbes
Second: Lena Kapp
Lead: Analena Jentsch
Breakdown
The Germans are bringing back a similar squad that went 5-7 last year in Prince George, including an 8-5 loss to Einarson and Team Canada.
Lena Kapp has since replaced Mia Höhne in the second position.
Jentsch, 41, will be competing in her ninth career world championship as she’s represented the European nation eight straight years, never making the playoffs.
Team Jentsch has a 44-32 record this season but are 1-7 at two Grand Slam events.
They will likely also be in tough to make the playoffs in Sandviken.
Game 9 – South Korea (Team Ha Seung-youn)
Wednesday, March 22 at 2pm ET on TSN1, TSN.ca and the TSN App Lineup
Lineup
Skip: Ha Seung-youn
Third: Kim Hye-rin
Second: Yang Tae-i
Lead: Kim Su-jin
Breakdown
Way back in June, 22-year-old Ha Seung-youn won her first Korean’s Women’s Curling Championship to earn the right to represent the country on the international stage.
Ha won the silver medal at the 2020 World Junior Curling Championships and silver at the Pan Continental Curling Championships in November, losing to Team Einarson in the round robin, 7-4.
This team has posted a 52-26 record in the 2022-23 season.
It will be interesting to see how much damage this young team out of Chuncheon, South Korea, can do in their first appearance at the world championship.
Game 10 – Japan (Team Satsuki Fujisawa)
Thursday, March 23 at 9am ET on TSN 1/5, TSN.ca and the TSN App
Lineup
Skip: Satsuki Fujisawa
Third: Chinami Yoshida
Second: Yumi Suzuki
Lead: Yurika Yoshida
Breakdown
No matter what happens in terms of wins or losses, Satsuki Fujisawa and her Japanese foursome are going to have fun.
Aside from being possibly the most positive and energetic team in curling, Team Fujisawa are also top contenders every time they step onto the ice.
Fujisawa, 31, has led her teams to a silver medal at the 2016 worlds, bronze at the 2018 Olympics and silver at the 2022 Olympics.
This season, they captured the Pan Continental Curling Championship in November after defeating Team Einarson in the semifinals and became the first Asian team to win a Grand Slam title, beating Team Einarson in the final of Canadian Open in January.
Fujisawa, who hasn’t played at a world championship since 2016, has posted an impressive 47-18 record in 2022-23, including a 4-5 showing against Einarson.
This matchup will be a tossup as Japan has a good of a chance as any to stand atop the podium by the end of the week.
Game 11 – Turkey (Team Dilşat Yıldız)
Friday, March 24 at 4am ET on TSN1, TSN.ca and the TSN App
Lineup
Skip: Dilşat Yıldız
Third: Öznur Polat
Second: İfayet Şafak Çalıkuşu
Lead: Mihriban Polat
Breakdown
After skipping Turkey in their first-ever appearance at the World Women’s Curling Championship in 2022, 26-year-old Dilşat Yıldız is back for the second straight year.
Turkey, who went 2-10 in Prince George, qualified after posting a 5-4 record at the Euros earlier this year, including wins over Germany’s Team Jentsch, Norway’s Team Roervik and Denmark’s Team Madeleine Dupont, who ended up winning the tournament.
Canada beat Turkey 8-4 in last year’s event.
With experience under their belts and some impressive results this season, Turkey could cause a few upsets at the world championship.
This one should be fun to watch.
Game 12 – Denmark (Team Madeleine Dupont)
Friday, March 24 at 9am ET on TSN 1/4, TSN.ca and the TSN App
Lineup
Skip: Madeleine Dupont
Third: Mathilde Halse
Second: Denise Dupont
Lead: My Larsen
Breakdown
Following back-to-back playoff appearance at the women’s worlds in 2021 and 2022, Team Madeleine Dupont should be contenders once again in Sweden.
The foursome out of Hvidovre are having a strong curling campaign, highlighted by an unlikely gold-medal win at the European Curling Championships in November, defeating Team Tirinzoni in the final.
Einarson beat Dupont last year and in 2021 during round-robin play.
This clash marks Canada’s last game of the round robin.
There’s a decent chance Team Einarson will have already locked up a spot in the playoffs at this point, but it will be an exciting battle against a strong team if they do in fact need a win against the Danes to keep their gold-medal hopes alive.