As the round-robin slowly draws to a close, the playoff race at the world women’s curling championship in Prince George is starting to heat up.
Sweden continued its pursuit of the number-two seed earning a hard-fought 6-5 victory over Germany (5-5).
Ahead 5-3 in the ninth, Anna Hasselborg missed a key shot, which allowed German skip Daniela Jentsch to hit for two and even the score at 5-5.
Jentsch then came up heavy on her final stone in the tenth, securing the victory for the Swedes who move to 8-2.
Swedish third Sara McManus who was the game’s top performer at 90%, told Vista Radio it was crucial to close the deal as they try to keep pace with Canada in the standings.
“We know it is going to be a tough run to have that second place but we are just going to keep the ball rolling to earn a good playoff spot.”
Elsewhere, a steal of one in the eighth set the table for Japan to earn a 9-5 win over Norway.
Norwegian skip Marianne Roervik, who throws the third stones stated it’s a tough pill to swallow as they held the lead for most of the contest.
“In the eighth, we were trying to secure one but we didn’t play our rock close enough to the centre guard and that cost us a point.”
Fourth, Kristin Skaslien attempted a hit for two in the ninth but fell short, forcing Norway to settle for a single.
“We tried to blank or get the two in the ninth but on Kristin’s first rock it was almost strong enough to sit for two but it was just short,” added Roervik.
Japan then picked up four in the tenth to improve to 6-4 while Norway drops to 5-5.
Lastly, Switzerland improved to 10-0 with an 8-5 win over South Korea in nine ends.
Switzerland has clinched first in the round-robin, giving them a guaranteed berth in the semi-finals.
Alina Paetz who throws the fourth stones for the Swiss curled at 94%.
Canada (7-2) takes on South Korea (6-3) in the evening draw. Skip Kerri Einarson and her Manitoba-based rink are coming off a convincing 9-3 victory this morning (Thursday) over the United States.
Tonight’s action has three other games including:
- Denmark vs Italy
- Sweden vs the United States
- Turkey vs the Czech Republic
The top six teams make the playoffs.
Qualification games go Saturday at 1:00 p.m. with the semi-finals Saturday night at 7:00.
Medal games hit the ice Sunday at 11:00 a.m. (for bronze) and 4:00 p.m. (for gold).
The full standings can be found here.
The full schedule and results are right here.
– with files from Hartley Miller
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