 Kerri Einarson and Team Canada (Photo: World Curling Federation) enter this year's world women's curling championship as the number-one ranked team in the world. By: Dylan Chenier After two previous appearances at women's worlds on Canadian soil, Kerri Einarson's rink is set to make its first trip oversees as Team Canada, with the four-time consecutive Scotties champions getting set to represent their country at the 2023 World Women's Curling Championship in Sandviken, Sweden. The tournament, which runs March 18 to 26, features 13 of the best women's rinks from around the world, with Canada's Team Einarson set to face off against a slew of international rivals, including Satsuki Fujisawa (JPN), Anna Hasselborg (SWE), and Silvana Tirinzoni (SUI). In their two previous appearances at the world championship, Team Eianrson's best finish came in 2022 in Prince George, when the rink took home the bronze medal in front of the home crowd. The team also represented Canada at the 2021 world championship, which was held behind closed doors in the Calgary bubble. In Calgary, Einarson led Canada to a sixth-place finish, falling to Sweden in the playoff qualification draw. While their debut performance at worlds didn't produce a medal, the run was a memorable one for Team Einarson, as the rink rattled off five straight victories to make the top-six, securing Canada a spot in the 2022 Winter Olympics. This year in Sweden, Team Einarson will be looking to build on the experience from their two previous trips to worlds, in the hopes of securing Canada its first gold medal at the event since 2018. So far this season, Einarson's rink from Gimli, Manitoba has looked strong, making the finals in five of the seven competitions they entered prior to the 2023 Scotties Tournament of Hearts. At this year's Canadian women's curling championships in Kamloops, Einarson's rink went undefeated through the round-robin as Team Canada, losing their first playoff game to Jennifer Jones, before securing three straight victories to win their fourth-consecutive Scotties title. Earlier this season, Team Einarson got some additional international experience, representing Canada at the inaugural Pan Continental Curling Championships in Calgary, securing a bronze medal finish. The rink also participated in the 2022 Karuizawa International, losing 6-3 to Korea's Team Kim in the final. Einarson's quest for gold in Sweden officially gets underway on Saturday evening in Sandviken, as Canada faces off against hosts Anna Hasselnorg and Team Sweden in Draw 2. The two rinks have met just once so far this season, with Einarson winning 6-5 in the quarterfinals of the Hearing Life Tour Challenge back in October. Heading into this year's championship. Einarson's rink is the number-one team in the world, according to the World Curling Federation's women's team rankings, while Hasselborg sits in ninth place. While the 2018 Olympic gold medalists will likely prove to be a tough test for Einarson's rink in its opening game of the tournament, Canada's biggest challenge for gold may well come from three-time reigning world champions Team Tirinzoni (Switzerland). The swiss rink has won the last three consecutive editions of the women's world championships, taking home the gold last year with a 7-6 victory over South Korea in the finals. Team Switzerland will be looking for another strong showing at this year's event, as the rink hopes for its fourth-straight gold medal. Team Tirinzoni enters this week's championship as the second-ranked team in the world. They will start their tournament on Saturday afternoon against Team USA (Peterson), with a clash against Canada set for the afternoon draw on Tuesday, Mar. 21. The 2023 World Women's Curling Championship features a number of familiar names and faces, including 2022 Pan Continental champions and Olympic silver medalists Team Fujisawa (Japan), as well as 2022 European champions Team Denmark (Dupont). However, this year's tournament also features some upcoming rinks looking to make a name for themselves on the world stage. 2022 European bronze medalist Hanna Morrison will be representing Scotland at this year's worlds, with the young skip hoping for a more positive experience than her first trip to the championship last year. At the 2022 tournament in Prince George, several members of Team Scotland tested positive for COVID-19, forcing the rink to withdraw from the event. This week in Sweden, Morrison's rink will be looking for a strong result in its first true showing at worlds. Anna Hasselborg isn't the only former Olympic gold medalist in this year's lineup, with Stefania Constantini set to skip Team Italy for the fourth time in her career. The 23-year-old won a gold medal in the mixed doubles event at last year's Winter Olympics in Beijing. This week in Sandviken, Team Italy will be looking for its first-ever medal at a world women's curling championship. In total, 13 countries will be competing at this year's tournament in Sweden. Rounding out the field is Germany (Jentsch), New Zealand (Smith), Norway (Rorvik), South Korea (Ha Seung-youn), Turkey (Yildiz), and the United States (Peterson). The format for the 2023 World Women's Curling Championship will be the same as it was in 2022, as six teams advance to the playoffs, with the top-two rinks receiving byes to the semifinals, while teams ranked third through sixth contest a qualification draw. The gold medal game is set for 3:00 p.m. CEST (10:00 a.m. ET) on Sunday, Mar. 26, 2023. As for how to watch this year's tournament, Canadian fans can catch all of Team Einarson's round-robin games live on TSN, with the network also providing comprehensive coverage of the playoff draws. Canada's first game against Team Sweden will be broadcast live on TSN 1 at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 18, 2023. Meanwhile, World Curling TV will stream all games from the event live through the Curling Channel on Recast. Select streams will include full production value with commentary, while every other game will be available without commentary. Geo-blocking may apply to broadcast games due to broadcast partner agreements. For LIVE SCORES, STATS, and STANDINGS, visit www.CurlingZone.com |
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Brendan Bottcher (photo: Stan Fong) is moving on from now former teammates Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert, announced Tuesday.
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