Team Canada remains on a roll with decisive win over South Korea

Imagine coming so close to a world curling championship that you can taste it? Canadian skip Kerri Einarson has been close. This year, she hopes it will be the year at the 2026 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship, presented by Pharmasave.

Six days and 15 draws into the event and the Canadian champions from Gimli, Man. — third/vice-skip Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard, lead Karlee Burgess, alternate Krysten Karwacki, coach Reid Carruthers and national coach Viktor Kjell — are rolling along with an 8-1 record and tied atop the 13-team standings with Team Switzerland’s Xenia Schwaller and closing in on one of six playoff spots available.

Team Canada’s latest win — and perhaps most impressive — came Thursday morning when it dispatched South Korea’s talented Team Eunji Gim (6-3), cruising to an 8-3, eight-end win over the fourth-ranked team in the world.

The Swiss, also on the ice in the morning, posted an 8-4 win over Norway’s Team Torlid Bjoernstad (2-7).

It was a statement win for Einarson, who is gunning for her first world title after earning two bronze medals in three previous trips to the worlds with Sweeting and Birchard in 2022 and 2023. Burgess joined the team halfway through the 2024-25 season.

The Canadians could have been excused if they had come out a little flat against a very good South Korean team that posted a 5-4 record at the recent Winter Olympic Games and was well-rested after a win in their only game Wednesday afternoon.

 But Einarson and Co., playing for the fifth time in the past seven draws, with the wicked morning/evening split of games thrown in, looked wide-eyed and bushy-tailed against the South Koreans.

So much for curling fatigue. The Canadians applied maximum pressure all game with some precise shots and were helped by Gim, who had trouble with the draw weight.

“It’s kind of been a long stretch of nine-seven, nine-seven (o’clock) games, so we were kind of a little tired this morning, so we wanted to bring some energy and positivity for today,” said Burgess. “It’s been a grind that last couple of days.”

Einarson agreed it’s been tough to get through the stretch of games that will include another evening game Thursday against Norway.

But some decent rest between draws has helped them gear up for night draws.

“I’m actually feeling pretty good, surprisingly, for lack of sleep,” said Einarson. “We’ve done this numerous times, but we’re veterans at this, so we just have to keep going, having fun.”

The teams traded singles to open the game but Team Canada, with hammer, seized the advantage in the third after Sweeting played a nifty hit-and-roll behind a long guard. Gim rubbed the guard going after it and opened the door for the Canadians to score the game’s first deuce.

The South Koreans had a chance to get a deuce back in the fourth, but an excellent hit-and-roll to a catcher in the four-foot behind cover by Einarson short-circuited that, and Gim was forced to take one.

The decisive blows were struck in the fifth when Gim was short on a freeze attempt, facing a couple of Canadian stones in the back four-foot. Einarson took advantage of the opening to draw for three and opened a solid 6-2 lead.

The South Koreans had a chance to climb back into the game in the sixth with a tough double for two, but Gim came in a bit thin, leaving Team Canada with another steal. That was enough to put Gim in quicksand, holding an anvil.

Gim needed a precise hit facing five just to score one in the seventh.

Einarson outcurled her counterpart 84 per cent to 73 per cent over the eight ends.

“We played very well in that game,” said Einarson. “We just went out there, not thinking, just throw the rock, broom weight, and we really caught on to the ice fast.

“We’re definitely feeling very comfortable. I thought today was our best game as a whole.” 

The win hasn’t assured Team Canada a playoff spot, but they are well-positioned to secure a coveted top-two spot, which will give them an automatic first-round bye.

Einarson says she’s not looking that far ahead.

“Actually, no, I’m just taking it one game at a time,” she said. “Obviously, it’s easier if you get into the semifinal, but we don’t want to look too far ahead and put added pressure on ourselves.

In the other Thursday morning action, China’s Team Rui Wang (5-4) earned a key 10-5 win over Turkey’s Team Yildiz Dilsat (5-4) to stay in the playoff hunt, and Italy’s Team Stefania Constantini (4-5) posted a six-end, 8-1 win over Denmark’s Team Madeleine Dupont (3-6).

Five teams had the bye Thursday morning, including Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa (6-2), Sweden’s Team Isabella Wranaa (6-3), Scotland’s Team Fay Henderson (3-6), Australia’s Team Helen Williams (1-8), and Team Delaney Strouse of the U.S.A. (1-8).

Round-robin play runs through to Friday, with the top six teams making the playoffs; no tiebreakers will be played, so ties for playoff spots will be broken based on head-to-head results, and if that doesn’t resolve the tie, then the pre-game Last-Shot Draw distances.

The top two teams from the round-robin play will be seeded directly into the semifinals on Saturday at 4 p.m., while the third will play sixth and the fourth will play fifth in the qualifying-round games earlier on Saturday, at 10 a.m.

The winners of the qualifying-round games will advance to the semifinals. The semifinal winners will play for gold on Sunday at 3 p.m., with the semifinal losers battling for bronze Sunday at 9 a.m.

The 2026 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship continue Thursday with draws at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. (all times Mountain).

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2026 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship are available by CLICKING HERE.

TSN and RDS2 will provide coverage of all Team Canada games, and all playoff games, at the 2026 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship. CLICK HERE for the broadcast schedule.

For ticket information for the 2026 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship, go to www.curling.ca/2026worldwomen/tickets/.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/fr/2026worldwomen/nouvelles/