Canada’s Team Einarson continues unbeaten streak at 2022 Pan Continental Curling Championships

The task at hand for Canada’s Team Kerri Einarson is not necessarily unfamiliar. 

Skip Einarson, vice-skip Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard, lead Briane Harris, coach Reid Carruthers and national coach Renée Sonnenberg are one step closer to that goal after an 8-1 win against Hong Kong’s Team Ling-Yue Hung (1-2) on Tuesday night at the 2022 Pan Continental Curling Championships. The win improves the team to an unblemished 3-0 record during the week.

Yes, the three-time Canadian champions are getting comfortable wearing the Maple Leaf at international curling events, having represented Canada at the past two world women’s championships. 

The team from the Gimli Curling Club understands there is tremendous pressure attached to earning a podium finish. But the team is also familiar with the honourable burden of the greater good: qualifying Canada for championships in the first place in order to compete for a chance at that podium finish.

That is the case again at WinSport Event Centre in Calgary, where Team Einarson must finish in the top five at the 2022 Pan Continental Curling Championships to secure a spot at the upcoming world women’s championship this season. 

Rewind the calendar 18 months, and the team found itself in the same position and at the same venue. Team Einarson, representing Canada at the 2021 World Women’s Curling Championship, had to finish in the top six to qualify the nation for a spot at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. With enough pressure to burst an oversized tire, Team Einarson battled through the round robin at that event to earn the sixth and final direct berth to the Olympics. 

This time around, the wins are falling in line for the Canadians, but it is still a role the team takes seriously because it understands the importance of the work ahead.

“They’re different, but also the same,” Harris said of comparing the two experiences at qualifying Canada for another international competition. “It’s always cool to get the chance to represent Canada, wearing the Maple Leaf, and give your country the chance to play at those big events. We’re hoping we can keep chugging along and getting some wins under our belt to place in the top five.”

The Canadian lead played her part in the win, clocking in a perfect 100 per cent shooting accuracy during the game.

Canada started its game against Hong Kong with hammer and efficiently split the house for a score of two. From then on, Hong Kong had its chances to capitalize with hammer but couldn’t finish the job. Canada stole single points in the second, third and fourth ends.

In the fifth end, Hong Kong needed a draw to the four-foot against three but was light. Canada took an 8-0 lead at the break.

“We’ve been trying to learn a lot and get better every game, and I think we have been. The ice has also been getting really good, so we’re trying to make some good shots out there so that we can get ready for the end of the week,” Harris said. “We try to keep our focus the whole game, no matter what the score is. We respect all of the teams that we are playing because they’re here to win too.”

Hong Kong conceded in the sixth end after making a draw to score one point.

In other Tuesday night action, Australia’s Team Jennifer Westhagen (2-2) defeated Team Angelina Ebauyer of Kazakhstan (0-4) 9-8; Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa (3-1) bested South Korea’s Team Seungyoun Ha (3-1) 7-4; and Team Tabitha Peterson of the United States (3-0) remained undefeated with an 11-4 win against Team Isis Oliveria (0-4).

The 2022 Pan Continental Curling Championships continue on Wednesday with a four-game day for Canadian curling fans. The Canadian men’s team, Team Brad Gushue (1-1), takes on Team Japan’s Riku Yanagisawa (0-2) at 8 a.m. (all times Mountain), followed by a game against Team Byeongjin Jeong of South Korea (2-0) at 4 p.m. Team Einarson opens its day at Noon against Australia’s Team Westhagen and closes the day at 8 p.m. against Team Oliveira of Brazil. 

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2022 Pan Continental Curling Championship are available by clicking here. 

TSN and RDS2 will provide coverage of select games from the 2022 Pan Continental Curling Championships. Click here for the full schedule.

For ticket information for the 2022 Pan Continental Curling Championships, click here. 

This story will be available in French as soon as possible here.