Same opponent, same result.
Canada’s Kerri Einarson was three ends away from ending up in the gold medal game of the world women’s curling championship in Prince George.
Then came the eighth end.
After Canada went ahead 6-4 by scoring three in the seventh, Korea, skipped by Eun-Jung Kim scored two in the eighth, stole one in the ninth as well as two more in the tenth to escape with a 9-6 win in the semi-finals in front of 2,198 fans at CN Centre.
“I had a shot to win. It was extremely difficult but it is what it is and tomorrow (Sunday) we are going to have to go out and played hard for the bronze,” said Einarson.
One of the key shots came in the ninth end where Einarson attempted a double takeout but missed, allowing the Koreans to go up by one heading into the 10th.
Things went from bad to worse for Canada, as Korea sat two in the house for much of the final end.
Canadian third Val Sweeting misfired on both of her rocks putting Einarson in a very difficult spot to win the game on her final shot.
Speaking of the Canadian skip, she only curled 64% in the game – the lowest among all players.
.@KEinarson of @EinarsonTeam speaks to the media after heartbreaking 9-6 semi final loss to South Korea @worldcurling @CurlingCanada #CityOfPG #princegeorge #northernbc #WWCC2022 #curling #sports pic.twitter.com/IIpzJ9NeWY
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 27, 2022
Conversely, Kim was marginally better at 71%.
During the round-robin on Thursday night, it was a similar ending.
Canada scored three in the eighth to take a 7-5 lead but Korea won the game 8-7 with one in the ninth, 10th and extra end.
It is an emotional letdown for the host nation as they now have a quick turnaround for the bronze medal match against Sweden, which goes at 11:00 this morning.
However, like always, Einarson expects her rink out of Manitoba’s Gimli Curling to bounce back.
“We’ve lost tough games before and we have come back strong so we are going to have to park it and get a medal.”
Korea will now play Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni and her Zurich-based team who will be going for its third straight women’s world championship.
In Switzerland’s 7-5 victory over Sweden, fourth Alina Paetz was the game’s top curler at 93%.
Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni of @TeamTirinzoni chats with the media following 7-5 victory over @TeamHasselborg in the semi finals @worldcurling @CurlingCanada #CityOfPG #WWCC2022 #curling #sports pic.twitter.com/sOk0yfjKGM
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) March 27, 2022
Sweden led 5-4 after seven ends before the Swiss came back with a deuce in the eighth and a steal of one in the 10th (after a blank in the ninth).
The Switzerland team enters the gold medal game this afternoon at 4:00 with a perfect 13-0 record in the championship.
On Saturday afternoon, Canada won its qualification round game 9-8 over Denmark.
The round-robin standings can be found here.
The full schedule and results are right here.
With files from Hartley Miller
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