By Canadian Press

Canada’s Einarson rebounds in women’s world curling with 8-4 win over Turkey

Mar 20, 2022 | 7:00 PM

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — Kerri Einarson’s curling team didn’t let the ice fool them a second straight game at the women’s world championship with an 8-4 doubling of Turkey on Sunday.

The host country improved to 2-1 ahead of a game in the evening draw against back-to-back defending champion Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland (2-0). 

The Canadians questioned what the ice was giving them in the previous evening’s 6-4 loss to Norway, which resulted in mistakes and half-misses by the back end of Einarson and third Val Sweeting.

They were quicker to adjust against the Turks, however, scoring three points in the fourth and sixth ends en route to victory.

“Caught onto the ice and our weights were controlled a lot better,” Einarson said. “We were throwing what I was asking for, so that definitely helps.”

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The skip was back on form with 100 per cent shooting accuracy on draws and hits, similar to Saturday’s opening 9-2 win over Italy in which Einarson shot 96 per cent.

Sweeting’s hit and roll behind cover in the fourth end helped Einarson set up for a three-pointer and a commanding 5-2 lead.

“Definitely the bounce-back we were looking for,” Sweeting said. “I think the girls set the ends up really well and Kerri finished them off.”

Turkey is yet another country arriving on the international curling scene as the sport goes global.

The 2011 World University Games in Erzurum was where a 13-year-old Dilsat Yildiz first clapped eyes on the sport. 

She’s skipping the Turks in their world championship debut in Prince George where they’ve been a tougher out than their 0-3 record indicated. 

Her foursome went 3-5 in December’s Olympic qualifier to fall short of advancing to Beijing, but their wins were over Scotland’s Eve Muirhead, Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa and South Korea’s Eunjung Kim. 

Muirhead defeated Fujisawa for Olympic gold last month in Beijing. Kim claimed Olympic silver in 2018 and won a third straight game Sunday in Prince George to top the world championship standings.

Einarson faced Yildiz for the first time on the international stage Sunday. The Turkish skip drew the back button against three Canadian stones in the seventh end to score one, and then conceded.

“We have our scouters out there and they give us a little bit of info and we go off of that, but we really just focus on our team and make shots,” the Canadian skip said. “They’re a great team and they made some great shots.”

Japan’s Ikue Kitazawa, Cory Christensen of the U.S. and the Swiss were tied at 2-0 behind the South Koreans at 3-0 heading into Sunday evening’s draw. Sweden was even with Canada at 2-1.

Denmark and Norway were 1-1 and the Czech Republic 1-2 ahead of the winless Germans, Scots, Italian and Turks.

The top six teams at the conclusion of the round robin Friday advance to the playoff round. The top two earn byes to Saturday’s semifinals with third through six playing off to join them. The medal games are Sunday.

Malfunctioning handles in the curling stones in Prince George meant hog-line violations went to the honour system Sunday.

The same problem occurred in Beijing, although the World Curling Federation stones used at the CN Centre are a different set.

Sensors in each stone’s handle determine whether the rock is released before touching the hog-line. A green light indicates a legal delivery, while a red light indicates a violation and the stone gets pulled.

For the rest of the women’s championship, it will be up to players to call any violations as was the case midway through men’s and women’s team curling in Beijing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2022.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press