Switzerland tops Italy in crucial matchup at BKT Tires World Women’s Championship

Silvana Tirinzoni and Team Switzerland remained in contention for one of the coveted top two spots in the BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship with a vital 6-2 win Friday morning over Italy.

The win did little to determine the final standings, but it did keep the four-time defending world champions in the mix for one of the top two round-robin spots and a bye into the Saturday semifinals. The result left Switzerland and Italy at 9-2, behind the unbeaten Rachel Homan skipped Team Canada at 10-0 and in front of South Korea at 8-2.

Canada will play South Korea’s Eunji Gim in a key match in the final draw Friday evening after playing Scotland in the afternoon.

Italy, under the guidance of skip Stefania Constantini, blanked the first two ends waiting for a chance at a deuce or more. But Alina Paetz, throwing fourth stones for the Swiss team skipped by Tirinzoni, made a tight double takeout inside the four-foot with her first shot and an ideal draw with her second that led to the steal of two.

A steal of one in the fourth and the Swiss were on their way to the important victory.

The six playoff positions were settled on Thursday with Canada, Switzerland, Italy, South Korea, Sweden and Denmark the six teams advancing from the round robin.

The top two teams in the standings advance directly to the semifinals. The third- through sixth-ranked teams compete in playoff qualification games (3 vs. 6; 4 vs. 5) with the winners advancing to the semifinals. The semifinal winners play in the gold-medal game and the losers play for bronze. The final goes March 24.

In other morning games where teams are fighting for Olympic qualifying points as part of the two-year qualification process, Norway’s Team Marianne Roervik (4-7) beat Denmark’s Team Madeleine Dupont (6-5) 9-3 in eight ends, the United States (5-6), skipped by Tabitha Peterson, rolled past Estonia’s Team Liisa Turmann (1-10) 12-4, while Scotland’s Team Rebecca Morrison (5-6) scored a 7-2 win over Japan’s Team Miyu Ueno (3-8).

The 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship continues with draws Friday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. (all times Atlantic).

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship are available by CLICKING HERE.

TSN and RDS2 will provide complete coverage of the 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule.

For ticket information for the 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship, go to www.curling.ca/2024worldwomen/tickets/.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2024worldwomen/nouvelles/?lang=fr