Live Blog: Day six at the WWCC

Thank you for sticking with us today.

Tomorrow, we’ll have 12 more round-robin games and by the end of the day, we’ll know who made it to the play-offs.

One more day of round-robin games to go tomorrow!

Let’s see how the standings look like at the moment:

Check out the Standings after six days of round-robin play at the #WWCC2023 #Curling pic.twitter.com/PD1iJZwTXU

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 23, 2023

United States (6-5) picked out a half buried German (5-5) stone to run them out of chances, 6-4, while Sweden’s (7-3) Anna Hasselborg picked a Korean (4-6)  stone clean, to win 7-5.

Okay, hear us out. The team that beats Switzerland on their 31-game World Championship winning streak, also will break records, for the first team to end it! Switzerland is just so strong – add another win on the board, 7-3 against Denmark.

Silvana Tirinzoni – “We didn’t take them lightly, that’s for sure. They beat us at the Europeans.”

“We want to make sure we stay focused and are ready for the weekend. It’s very important not to get too loose, but it’s also very nice to be in this position without the pressure.”

Sweden lead 6-5 with hammer in the last end, after Korea make a double and juuuust push out the Swedish stone far enough for two!

Patience is a virtue – and it paid off for Sweden as their skip makes the nose hit for three to go up 6-3 against Korea playing the ninth end.

Norway’s skip Marianne Roervik approached their game against New Zealand as they would any game, despite New Zealand’s current record. “We struggled a bit in the start. Luckily we got a comfortable lead,” she said.

“Tomorrow we have Italy in the morning and we have to win at least one tomorrow, but we will try to win them both.”

Norway (6-4) pick up a win against New Zealand (0-11), 8-1. Staying at four losses is H U G E!

Three games remain on the ice!

As we are half-way through the session, United States, Norway and Switzerland look strong, while Sweden and Korea are in a single-point battle. Obviously, all wins are important, but United States would really like to stay at five losses.

It’s a rematch of the 2022 European final, between Denmark and Switzerland. Denmark claimed gold in November, how will today’s game go, with Switzerland on a 30-game winning streak?! Swiss lead 3-1 after three ends so far.

It’s been a long few day for the New Zealand team – but we are delighted to see skipper, Jess Smith on the ice after not playing for some time.

Well, based on the current standings, it’s going to be a grind to the very last game, very last stone, until we know who will make the top six and get into play-offs.

Here is how the top six teams will be determined.

How many sports do you see sets of sisters play against other sets of sisters?!

In this evening’s game, United States sisters Tabitha and Tara Peterson are facing Germany’s Daniela and Analena Jentsch.

The last session of the day is coming up shortly

🇰🇷 Korea v Sweden 🇸🇪
🇳🇴 Norway v New Zealand 🇳🇿
🇨🇭 Switzerland v Denmark 🇩🇰
🇩🇪 Germany v United States 🇺🇸

🕖 7 pm (CET)
✍️ https://t.co/5MtEuqL3Py
📺 https://t.co/fy3vfdBx89#Curling #WWCC2023

📸 WCF / Jeffrey Au pic.twitter.com/XR6PUjNciB

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 23, 2023

Well, then! We did say it was about to get interesting. Let’s break down the situation…

If five teams have five victories and three teams have six wins, and you add in the fact Switzerland have taken one of the six play-off spots, it equals…an enthralling conclusion. That’s good maths.

Four more round-robin sessions to come! See you this evening.

RESULTS | Session 16#Curling #WWCC2023 pic.twitter.com/AReXZyhnv1

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 23, 2023

Madeleine Dupont attempts a take-out to lie three but can’t get the contact required and Türkiye get the win. Fantastic composure from Yildiz and her team after what happened. Let’s hope Berfin Şengül is okay and can make a full recovery.

Unfortunately, in the tenth end, Türkiye lead Berfin Şengül took a fall and was carried off injured. Best wishes to her and hopefully she’s okay. Dilsat Yildiz will now need to regroup and deliver their final stones.

A steal of two for Italy in the ninth put them right back in the game. But United States hold their nerve in the final end to register another win. The game finished 9-7.

That puts Tabitha Peterson’s team at 5-5, while Stefania Constantini and co are now 6-4 in Sandviken.

And here’s Fujisawa Satsuki speaking to 2017 world champion Joanne Courtney.

“Actually we struggled with the ice today,” she said. “We always try to keep focused with what’s happening and stay positive. It’s such a good win for us.

“I felt the pressure from the first day of being here. We know have a chance to qualify – but let’s have fun.

“We spend a lot of time on preparing for these tough games. But we’ve been getting better throughout the week and need to keep trusting ourselves.”

Fujisawa Satsuki seemed bemused as the prospect of making the play-offs earlier today – well that should clean up the picture for the Japanese skip.

Kerri Einarson’s last-stone can’t quite make it past the guard and Japan take the victory. A two-win day for the two-time Olympic medallists puts them at 5-5 in the standings.

A cool, calm and collected Kerri Einarson has no trouble in drawing into the eight foot to register a deuce and tie things up at 5-5 against Japan. But it will be Fujisawa Satsuki with last-stone advantage in the tenth.

Türkiye have a chance at two points themselves but the draw falls short and they settle for a single point. They lead 4-2 against Denmark going into the final end.

United States and Italy remain in the ninth end.

We have our first finish of the afternoon – and it’s Scotland who take the victory.

Rebecca Morrison skips her team to an 8-3 success over New Zealand. Unfortunately, it is unlikely to be enough to push their play-off chances – but a win in a World Women’s Curling Championship isn’t something to understate.

After last year’s frustration, and the Eve Muirhead-sized hole left in the Scottish set-up, gaining experience on the world stage is paramount for Morrison and co.

Okay, we get it, we’ve used that pun once before this week – but is there a more apt title for Switzerland at the moment?

We told you earlier about Team Silvana Tirinzoni’s record – but we couldn’t resist showing you this fancy graphic to underline its outrageousness!

Breaking records and taking names. 🇨🇭

Switzerland’s @TeamTirinzoni is on a 30 game World Championship winning streak, making it the most consecutive wins for any team. They also broke the previous women’s record for Associations, which was held by Canada at 27 wins! #WWCC2023 pic.twitter.com/fF1YLb8NvR

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 23, 2023

March 23rd-On This Day in BC Sport History: 1985

The Linda Moore Curling Rink, from North Vancouver’s North Shore Winter Club, win the World Women’s Curling Championship in Jonkoping, Sweden, becoming the first BC women’s rink to win the world title. Canada defeated…/2 pic.twitter.com/kM05iuCtrO

— Jason D Beck (@JasonBeck82) March 23, 2023

Where do our teams stand going into this draw? As you can see, a swing of results can make a huge difference to the standings and for reaching those all-important play-off spots.

Canada (6-3 record) – tied 3-3 with Japan

Italy (6-3 record) – losing 6-3 to United States

Türkiye (4-5 record) – leading 2-1 against Denmark

Japan (4-5 record) – tied 3-3 with Canada

United States (4-5 record) – leading 6-3 against Italy

Denmark (3-5 record) – losing 2-1 to Türkiye

Scotland (2-7 record) – leading 7-2 against New Zealand

New Zealand (0-9 record) – losing 7-2 to Scotland

What’s the situation five ends down in session 16?

United States 6-3 Italy

A tough first half for Italy but only down to Tabitha Peterson and co’s execution. Against five American stones, Stefania Constantini is forced to draw for one to go into the break three points behind.

Canada 3-1 Japan

Fujisawa Satsuki’s attempted raised take-out couldn’t find the right angle and Japan give up a steal of one to Canada and trail Team Kerri Einarson 3-1.

Scotland 5-2 New Zealand

After losing out this morning, Scotland have bounced back immediately to grab a 5-2 lead against New Zealand.

Denmark 1-1 Türkiye

A low-scoring affair after five ends with three blanked ends and each team scoring a single point. Who can take control of the affair in the second half?

Satsuki Fujisawa 🇯🇵 makes the perfect long roll behind a corner guard!

Watch live on the Curling Channel: https://t.co/fy3vfdC4XH#WWCC2023 #curling pic.twitter.com/cnLv5HZeT7

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 23, 2023

Our wonderful feature writer Mike Haggerty has delved deeper into the past years’ Covid woes for a couple of teams competing in Sandviken. It’s an excellent read – check it out using the link below.

‘Thank God it’s behind us.”

Have you downloaded the official event app? There’s so many ways you can follow all the action at the LGT World Women’s Curling Championship 2023. Aside from this live blog, our fantastic social media channels, all of the games on the Curling Channel, our online features and much more, there’s also an app you can download.

Powered by Geztio in cooperation with Swedish Curling.

SWE Curling on App Store

SWE Curling on Google Play

Almost ten years ago to the day, Scotland’s Eve Muirhead and her rink won the world title.

The World Women’s Curling Championship 2013 was held in Riga. It was in the Latvian capital where Muirhead became the youngest skip to win a gold medal.

A single point in the tenth end was enough for Scotland to beat Sweden 7-6 in the final. Less than nine years later, Muirhead added an Olympic title to her collection.

Picking up a silver medal that day? None other than Agnes Knochenhauer, who was the alternate for Sweden.

Silvana Tirinzoni and Fujisawa Satsuki are the only other two that remain a decade later, skipping Switzerland and Japan, respectively, in Riga.

These are two teams that know each other well on tour. This is already the tenth time this season Team Fujisawa Satsuki and Team Kerri Einarson have met. It is the Canadian, however, that have won 16 of their previous 24 encounters. Interestingly, this is the first time they’ve met at a worlds.

Back in Sandviken, it is Japan that are forced to a single point in the opening end.

United States have come out of the blocks firing this afternoon! Tabitha Peterson has no problem with the draw and grabs three straight out the gate against Italy. At this point, Peterson knows that if they win the rest of their games, a play-off spot is likely.

These two rinks have met twice in the past, with a victory apiece. But it was Stefania Constantini’s team which got the win a couple of months ago at the Canadian Open.

As the teams get ready and warmed up, let’s take a look at which teams are on the ice this afternoon…

United States v Italy

Canada v Japan

Scotland v New Zealand

Denmark v Türkiye

The race for the play-offs is well and truly heating up – but what about for Team of the Tournament? Let’s take a look at how things look after 15 sessions on ice.

Lead: Briane Harris, who —let’s remind you— is pregnant, is top of the charts for those who throw first. The Canadian is registering her stones at 90%. Tremendous!

Second: Norwegian Mille Haslev Nordbye has been Mrs. Consistent this week – with every score above 78%. Her overall rating is at 85% in Sandviken.

Third: Cory Thiesse has been as reliable as it gets and hit over 90% on three occasions. Across the week she’s been recording her throws at 83%.

Fourth: No surprises for guessing who is leading the standings for those who have the pressure of last-stone throws. It’s five-time world women’s champion Alina Paetz, who is throwing at a staggering 88% after nine games.

What’s been your favourite moment at the LGT World Women’s Curling Championship 2023 so far? We’d love to hear your best bits.

Get involved by tweeting to #WWCC2023

We’ll be back at 2pm (CET) for the next session. Who will join Switzerland in the play-offs?

RESULTS | Session 15

These results mean that Switzerland 🇨🇭 secured a spot in the semi-finals!#Curling #WWCC2023 pic.twitter.com/jQ5Ak7Uff9

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 23, 2023

As for control and assurance on ice, especially after the interval, that’s probably as good as it has been all week for Sweden. Team Anna Hasselborg get the 9-6 win over Scotland.

And we’ve got lead Sofia Mabergs to tell us her thoughts after this morning’s triumph.

“It was an exciting start,” said the Olympic champion. “Whoever had the hammer made their shots well but we handled it much better in the second half.

“We wanted to be the stronger team in the last five ends and put pressure on them. I think we did that well today.

“Every win is important. We are putting ourselves in a great position for the play-offs.”

Unfortunately for Scotland, there’s chances of making Saturday’s ties look over. They’ll be back!

Let’s hear from Japan skip Fujisawa Satsuki on her team’s win over Korea.

“It was big for us to score three in the fifth end,” said the two-time Olympic medallist. “We struggled mentally today but we tried to trust our game and have fun.”

Asked about their play-off chances, she jokingly responded: “Do we still have a chance?”

She continued: “I think we need to focus just on the ice and us. We will try to have fun and play our best. Our performances are getting better but we only have four wins. We hope to try and win the final few games.”

They’re not giving up just yet. Japan get the better of Korea and win 7-4 to record a fourth win of the week. The two teams now boast a 4-5 record – can either of them reach the play-offs? Here’s their remaining fixtures…

Japan: Canada, Germany and New Zealand

Korea: Sweden, Switzerland and United States

And here’s Dilsat Yildiz on her team’s big 8-3 win over Germany just now.

“We started badly this week but are now playing really well and have a few more games to play – which we have to win,” she said.

“Last year after qualification, we gained a lot of confidence when playing these top teams – and after this week we know we can beat them.”

Are you ready for a historical statistic that Switzerland have just achieved this week? Okay then…

This is the most consecutive wins in the World Women’s Curling Championships EVER for an association. They surpass Canada’s 27 victories from 2017 to 2019 to record a stunning 30th win just now against Norway. Can they be stopped in going for a fourth world title in a row?

Here’s the thoughts of Silvana Tirinzoni on reaching the play-offs…

“It might have been a bit boring to watch,” she said. “But the blanked ends worked out in our favour most of the time.

“We usually try to score in even ends and blank the odd ends. But we ended up doing all of them. It wasn’t the plan but we wanted to keep the hammer and prevent any steals.

“We’re really happy to qualify. We still have three games to play but to reach the play-offs already is great.”

The scoring drought has finally ended on Sheet A between Switzerland and Norway. After four consecutive blanks, Silvana Tirinzoni’s team grab a massive five – and that’s the victory.

It’s the ever-dependable Alina Paetz who gets the single-stone take-out to secure the win. What a special team.

Switzerland are the first team to qualify for Saturday’s play-off games. Was it ever in doubt? Tremendous stuff.

Many congratulations to Switzerland 🇨🇭, on being the first team to qualify for the #WWCC2023 play-offs!

Awesome job! 👏👏👏#curling pic.twitter.com/rknUg3zS92

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 23, 2023

Despite a response from Germany, courtesy of a three-ender in the seventh end, Türkiye register a deuce to extend their lead to 8-3. And that’s handshakes.

That’s a massive win for Dilsat Yildiz for her team’s chances of a play-off spot. Three games remain for Yildiz and co: Canada, Denmark and Scotland.

Yoshida Chinami 🇯🇵 threads the needle and rolls behind a corner guard 🤩

Watch live on the Curling Channel: https://t.co/fy3vfdC4XH#WWCC2023 #curling pic.twitter.com/smwHledwW6

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 23, 2023

If you did not know, it is a mammoth operation behind the scenes to bring curling to your screens. With coverage of every game being recorded, here’s an insight into our broadcasting set-up…

Türkiye have come out today determined to advance their claim to a play-off spot. After collecting a single point in the opening end, they have registered steals in the last four ends to extend their lead to 6-0 over Germany.

With a strong draw-shot challenge and head-to-head record, a triumph for Türkiye here will put them right in the play-off fight.

A third blanked end in a row keeps the scoreline at 1-1 between Norway and Switzerland.

We’ve received confirmation that if Switzerland get the win over Norway, they will officially become the first team to qualify for the play-offs. Silvana Tirinzoni has last-stone advantage into the eighth.

Not much between the teams statistically but it’s Japan who have the advantage over Korea at this stage. That hit percentage seems to be the difference…

Let’s take a look at the scores at the halfway point…

Norway 1-1 Switzerland

Another blanked end in the fifth means these two teams go into the break level. A closely fought game so far.

Germany 0-5 Türkiye

Daniela Jentsch’s out-turn draw is thrown against three Türkiye stones and can only stop one of them from scoring. It puts Germany five behind at the interval.

Korea 1-4 Japan

Ouch. That’s unfortunate for Korea as Ha Seungyoun’s last stone clips her own guard and goes through the gap to take out one of her stones. A draw for three from Japan rubs salt in Korea’s wounds.

Sweden 5-4 Scotland

It’s been a story of deuces so far between Scotland and Sweden with two apiece in the opening four ends. A single point in the fifth gives Anna Hasselborg and co the edge.

A perfect hit and roll, then the perfect runback takeout from Kim Hyerin 🇰🇷 a very high-quality game so far 👏

Watch live on the Curling Channel: https://t.co/fy3vfdC4XH#WWCC2023 #curling pic.twitter.com/mvKYmaVwz9

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 23, 2023

We highlighted the head-to-heads between teams earlier on, but as Rhona Howie mentions on the Scotland-Sweden commentary, it is the hosts that have the favourable overall record in World Women’s Curling Championships play.

Sweden have won 38 times, with Scotland victorious on 17 occasions.

Not satisfied with that, though, Rhona tells Niklas Edin – ahead of his campaign at next month’s BKT Tires & OK Tire World Men’s Curling Championship – that Scotland have won slightly more in the men’s event. Edin replies: “We’ll have to change that then…although it won’t be easy!”

Niklas Edin doing commentary at Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships 2022 in Oestersund © WCF / Celine Stucki

In Switzerland’s eight games this week they’ve only conceded 23 points – less than three per game. Well, Norway are finding the battle of scoring, even with the hammer, a frustrating task so far.

After back-to-back blanked ends, Silvana Tirinzoni gets a steal of one. Can Norway overcome the Swiss wall?

While the action continues on ice, remember you can catch up on highlights from earlier games.

Click here to do so.

Sandviken’s Göransson Arena is buzzing this morning – the penultimate day of round-robin action – and there’s plenty of focus on this Scotland v Sweden match.

Rebecca Morrison produces a well-weighted draw for two to respond to Sweden’s opening-end deuce.

This is the fifth time Silvana Tirinzoni’s Switzerland rink will line up against Norway’s Marianne Roervik and co. The previous four results have fallen to the world champions, including at the Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships this season.

Skips Anna Hasselborg and Rebecca Morrison have gone up against one another three times previously, with the Swedish rink edging their head-to-head with two wins. However, the Scots did claim victory at the recent Europeans.

Both match-ups between Ha Seungyoun and Fujisawa Satsuki occurred at the inaugural Pan Continental Curling Championships, with the Japan quartet winning both times.

With just two days of round-robin action to go, the match-ups today and tomorrow will be fought to the bitter end.

To sum up how close it is at the top, if this morning’s games finish a certain way, we’d have five teams sitting on six wins and three losses. It’s very likely that head-to-heads and draw-shot challenge will come into play.

But let’s park the hypotheticals for a minute and focus on the action on ice. We have an all-Asian affair, a historic battle between two of curling’s most successful nations, an unbeaten force looking to extend its winning streak and a pair of dark horses facing off.

That’s enough to get the juices flowing…

Day 6⃣ at the LGT World Women’s!

Our morning programme in Sandviken:

🇳🇴 Norway v Switzerland 🇨🇭
🇩🇪 Germany v Türkiye 🇹🇷
🇯🇵 Japan v Korea 🇰🇷
🇸🇪 Sweden v Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

🕘 9 am (CET)
✍️ https://t.co/5MtEuqL3Py
📺 https://t.co/fy3vfdBx89#Curling #WWCC2023

📷 WCF / @Fishersnaps pic.twitter.com/d0gcJAB8n1

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 23, 2023

It’s 4 degrees Celsius, the sun is shining and we are so ready for some more world-class curling action in Sandviken.