Live Blog: Day eight at the WWCC

Can Switzerland make it four world titles in a row tomorrow? Or will Norway end the 34-game winning streak and secure a first world title in 32 years? We can’t wait to find out!

The world title will be on the line tomorrow (Sunday 26 March) at 15:00. Beforehand, the bronze-medal game will get underway at 10:00. We’ll see you then for a what’s expected to be an epic finale to the LGT World Women’s Curling Championship.

God natt!

All times are CEST (Central European Summer Time) which is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) +2 hours.

Spare a thought or two for the Sweden and Canada teams. They fought incredibly hard all week and got as close as they can get to a final.

They’ll be back tomorrow morning at the Göransson Arena one last time to battle for the bronze medals.

RESULTS | Semi-finals#Curling #WWCC2023 pic.twitter.com/RcXDvUAohp

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 25, 2023

And here is winning skip Marianne Roervik to tell us how it feels…

“It’s a bit unreal right now,” says the Norwegian. “We were working hard and playing well all week.

“We are just some curlers that work full time on the side and now we’re in the final.”

How does Roervik feel about facing Switzerland in the final?

“We are expecting to have to play really well. Of course we will try to win it. It’s a final – they can get nervous too.”

Tremendous. The 25th-ranked team in the world have just beat the number one-ranked rink. Stunning stuff all week from Norway – and today was no different. That guarantees Norway a first medal at a world championships since 2005.

Kristen Skaslien has had quite the career but even she can’t believe it. You are going to a LGT World Women’s Curling Championship final, Kristen. Drink it in! Marianne Roervik has a chance to add to her silver and bronze world medals that she won 18 and 19 years ago, respectively.

Let’s hear some post-match reaction from Switzerland skip Silvana Tirinzoni, shall we?

“I don’t know what to say, honestly,” she said. “One of my best games I had this week – I’m so happy to play like this in such an important game. I’m so happy for the team.

“Carole and Briar look like they are comfortable and will play the same way in the final – they don’t need to worry.

“Maybe it looks easier than it is – it is tough on us. We go out there to perform at our best for so many games – it’s not easy at all.”

So, who will they face in the final?

Signed, sealed and delivered. What a fantastic display from Switzerland. Team Silvana Tirinzoni look delighted – and they have every reason to be. That’s win number 34 in a row. Can they be stopped?

It finishes 8-4 to Switzerland. On to the gold medal match…

It could have been the game there. An opportunity for Norway to score four, but despite Marianne Roervik getting involved with the sweeping, it pulls up short and they’ll have to settle for three. Still, not bad, eh?

Canada need at least three points in the final end to keep their title ambitions alive. Stranger things have happened…

Just unbelievable. Alina Paetz has very little to work with after Anna Hasselborg’s well-positioned final stone. But, somehow, she finds a double and still keeps two of Switzerland’s stones in the house. That puts the defending champions 8-4 ahead. Sweden need something bordering on miraculous in the final end.

Alina Paetz 🇨🇭 makes an outstanding double for two points!

Watch live on the Curling Channel: https://t.co/fy3vfdBx89#WWCC2023 #curling pic.twitter.com/OMOgpcg9X5

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 25, 2023

Did you know this Sweden-Switzerland semi-final is a repeat of last year’s? On that occasion, 364 days ago, Team Silvana Tirinzoni triumphed 7-5 to reach the final. Will it end similarly here?

Anna Hasselborg has a busy house of stones to navigate here. She produces a nose hit which, by way of a few centimetres, is shot stone. It reduces the margin to two points but Switzerland lead 6-4 and have the hammer in the ninth.

A lovely draw to the button from Canada skip Kerri Einarson gets her team level once more at 5-5. Very little between the teams here.

All four potential final match-ups remain in play – who are you backing?

Get involved by tweeting to #WWCC2023

Strong numbers from the thirds in this semi-final. McManus and Tirinzoni are both bettering their tournament averages.

As Rhona Howie says on commentary, coming up against Switzerland at the minute must be incredibly frustrating. No matter what, they don’t give the opposition anything for free.

Alina Paetz bags her team another deuce and now the gap is sizeable – Tirinzoni and co lead 6-3. Sweden will need to force some half shots from Switzerland now.

Elsewhere, Norway are unable to register more than one point. Kristen Skaslien’s wide draw with her last stone can’t grab a slice of the button. They lead 5-4 over Canada.

Perfection from Carole Howald 🇨🇭making a triple peel 🤩

Watch live on the Curling Channel: https://t.co/fy3vfdBx89#WWCC2023 #curling pic.twitter.com/dzqAWLFgEO

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 25, 2023

That’ll be music to the ears of Canadians. A steal of one puts them back level at 4-4. It was an uncharacteristic mistake from Kristen Skaslien as her hit rolls away from the house.

Sweden can’t quite respond with a deuce and will have to settle for a one-ender in the sixth. Just a single point splits Anna Hasselborg’s rink and Switzerland.

Four ends to go. Who will reach the final?

Alina Paetz is the epitome of cool, calm and collected. After a brief interval chat with her team, she even has time to ask her coaches how they are feeling.

Pierre Charette, who made 14 Brier appearances back in the day, keeps it simple – “We just love watching you play!”

Don’t we all, Pierre, don’t we all…

Norway 4-3 Canada

A chance at getting back level goes awry for Kerri Einarson as her shooter rolls out of the house. But they do reduce the deficit to one and go into the break 4-3 down against Norway.

Sweden 2-4 Switzerland

Anna Hasselborg is successful in taking her blank opportunity and they avoid being forced in the fifth. They do trail Switzerland 4-2, though.

A big moment in the fourth end as Norway record three points to regain the advantage in this semi-final. A draw from Kristen Skaslien comfortably sits in the eight foot. Can Canada immediately respond?

Switzerland themselves have responded in the fourth end with a deuce of their own. A clinical performance as usual from the Swiss quartet. The defending champions are now 4-2 up going into the fifth.

Before the semi-finals got underway, we had a special moment to present Katarina Nyberg, Louise Marmont and Elisabeth Persson with their World Curling Hall of Fame plates. The three remaining members of Team Gustafson were inducted in 2020 in the “Athlete” category but were not able to be presented at the time due to COVID. They join skip Elisabet Gustafson in the Hall of Fame, who was inducted in 2012.

Team Gustafson are four-time World Champions — 1992, 1995, 1998 and 1999 – and won Olympic bronze medals in Nagano 1998 on curling’s return to the Olympic Winter Games. In addition, they are four-time European Champions — 1992, 1993, 1997 and 2000.

“It was quite shocking to receive the call a few years ago,” said Elisabeth Persson. “We are incredibly honoured.”

“It is really nice to be honoured here in our home country. It’s only a short drive here and we have lots of people here who know us,” added Louise Marmont.

Katarina Nyberg revealed it was the first time the whole team have been together in a decade. Well, you deserve to go celebrate together! Congratulations.

And it’s a deuce for Sweden, too. Anna Hasselborg draws to the eight foot and gets her rink back level with the defending champions. A closely fought battle so far between these two well-acquainted teams…

Go get a well-deserved drink, Shannon Birchard and Briane Harris. Kerri Einarson has an opportunity to draw for two – but she requires all of her sweepers’ efforts as it squeaks past the corner guard. Fantastic work by the front end. Canada now lead 2-1 against Norway.

A straightforward peel on top of the 12 foot by Kerri Einarson blanks the second end. Things have calmed down a little bit on both sheets from the stone-heavy houses in the opening ends.

Likewise between Switzerland and Sweden, with Anna Hasselborg happy to blank. Can they generate some scoring opportunities with their next eight stones?

Carole Howald 🇨🇭 squeaks by a guard to open up the front of the house and lie one!

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

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 25, 2023

Many more scoring opportunities early on in these two semi-final affairs compared to the qualification games from this morning. Aggressive approaches taken by all four teams.

Kristen Skaslien, aiming to tap away Canada’s scoring shot, can’t get enough weight to move it far enough and will have to settle for one point. Canada will be happy with that result – a force to start.

A little more straightforward on the other sheet, with the ever-dependable Alina Paetz drawing to the four foot to grab a deuce. Switzerland lead 2-0.

Now let’s look at the shot percentages for each position in the Norway v Canada semi-final (after round-robin stage):

Lead: Martine Roenning (90%) v Briane Harris (89%)

Second: Mille Haslev Nordbye (85%) v Shannon Birchard (83%)

Third: Marianne Roervik (81%) v Val Sweeting (77%)

Fourth:  Kristen Skaslien (76%) v Kerri Einarson (77%)

Let’s take a look at the shot percentages for each position in the Switzerland v Sweden semi-final (after round-robin stage):

Lead: Briar Schwaller-Hürlimann (87%) v Sofia Mabergs (85%)

Second: Carole Howald (83%) v Agnes Knochenhauer (82%)

Third: Silvana Tirinzoni (82%) v Sara McManus (82%)

Fourth: Alina Paetz (89%) v Anna Hasselborg (77%)

Back at it! @EinarsonTeam getting it’s practice in before #WWCC2023 semifinal.

Canada vs. Norway is live on @TSNCurling at 11 a.m. ET pic.twitter.com/TY3QULHjQL

— Curling Canada (@CurlingCanada) March 25, 2023

So, what happened when these teams faced off earlier in the week?

Of course, with Switzerland currently unbeaten in 33 world championship games, they were 9-3 victors in just six ends. Today’s semi-final will be the 55th time these rinks will have met, with Team Silvana Tirinzoni edging the head-to-head on 28 wins.

Canada (Team Kerri Einarson) and Norway (Marianne Roervik) played one another for the first time last Sunday in their round-robin encounter – and it was Einarson and co who prevailed, winning 9-6.

Not long now…

🇳🇴 vs 🇨🇦 | Semi-final #curling #wwcc2023 pic.twitter.com/NN59qpcjqv

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 25, 2023

Are you ready?

🇸🇪 vs 🇨🇭 | Semi-final #curling #wwcc2023 pic.twitter.com/yOd9pUwvx1

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 25, 2023

So, let’s tidy up the situation. Here are the semi-final match-ups for you:

Switzerland v Sweden

Norway v Canada

Both games will start at 16:00. Make sure to join us for what’s set to be a thrilling afternoon on ice.

All times are CET (Central European Time) which is Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) +1 hour.

RESULTS | Qualification Games

Many congratulations, Canada 🇨🇦 and Sweden 🇸🇪, on qualifying for the semi-finals!#Curling #WWCC2023 pic.twitter.com/lV5VEMLbcC

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 25, 2023

Take a breath. Let’s hear some reaction from Canada skip Kerri Einarson…

“We just held in there today,” she said. “We had some opportunities – I had that double for three in the fourth end but couldn’t make it. But we made the shots we needed to at the right time.”

And her thoughts ahead of the final?

“We just need to keep doing what we’re doing. Go out there with smiles, laughs and make sure we enjoy ourselves.”

What a finale. Only one more stone was needed, as Japan can’t quite make shot stone.

A fantastic display from Team Kerri Einarson. They take the win 6-4 and move on to their semi-final match-up against Norway later today.

Like Italy, Japan should be super proud of their efforts this week. They’ll be back.

Fujisawa and Einarson have one stone each to throw. Here’s the current situation – Japan (yellow) and Canada (red):

Here’s vice-skip Sara McManus on reaching the LGT World Women’s Curling Championship semis.

“I love it,” said the Swede. “This it the best place to be. We came out to play and have fun – and we did so for every single second out there.

“The crowd was amazing. I have so much adrenaline going in me right now.”

And on facing the unbeaten Switzerland rink?

“It’s going to be a tough one for sure,” added McManus. “We should focus on ourselves. They’ve had an amazing tournament but we’ve built something good this week.”

We’re into an extra end. Incredible. Japan are only able to register a single point to tie things up at 4-4. Who will face Norway later today? Let’s find out. Canada have the last-stone advantage.

Cometh the hour, cometh the woman. Take a bow, Anna Hasselborg – what a superb final stone. A hit and roll is enough to score a single point and beat Italy 4-3. The crowd are loving it. This is the loudest it has been all week. What an atmosphere! Sweden will face Switzerland in this afternoon’s semi-final clash.

Who was the last team to beat Team Silvana Tirinzoni in a World Women’s Curling Championship game? Oh yes, Hasselborg and co…

Each skip in both games has one stone to throw…

Canada are lying shot stone, so are Sweden. This is too tight to call….

And we go into the final ends in both games.

It has been incredibly close throughout. Japan blank the ninth and go into the final end one behind but with last-stone advantage. A semi-final berth against Norway is up for grabs.

In the other qualification encounter, it really has been a game of fine margins. A shot at a deuce is available but Italy can only score one. It’s a tied game at 3-3. Sweden have the hammer in the last end.

Kerri Einarson’s numbers will likely improve after her last-stone draw is delivered on the money and registers a score of one to take a 4-3 lead. This is proper play-off curling…

A similar set-up in the other qualification affair, as Anna Hasselborg draws for one to regain Sweden’s advantage. The hosts are 3-2 up with two to play.

How are your nerves?

If you’ve listened to LGT World Women’s Curling Championship 2023’s official song at all this past week, it is likely stuck in your head. From the land that gave us ABBA, Avicii and Zara Larsson, it can’t be a surprise that they’ve produced another smash-hit song. The kids these days would call it a “banger”…

Fancy learning more about how it came to fruition? Check out below.

A special half-time performance will take place tomorrow during the gold medal match. Move over Rihanna at the Super Bowl…

The game of one-pointers continues on Sheet A between Canada and Japan.

A fraction of a Canadian yellow stone in the 12 foot means that Fujisawa Satsuki is forced to opt for a hit on the scoring stone and take the point. It’s 3-3 after seven ends. Even by comparison, Japan aren’t as smiley as normal – this really is a pressure-cooker game.

(That being said, Japan are still the smiliest team on ice – but you catch the drift.)

A sigh of relief for Kerri Einarson. After the Canadian skip’s last stone goes through the house, Fujisawa Satsuki can’t quite execute her in-off attempt and inadvertently gives Canada a steal of one. A big swing there. Could that be another key moment?

It’s 3-2 to Canada with Japan taking the hammer into the seventh end.

It took six ends but Italy are on the board. A patient approach pays dividends in the end for Stefania Constantini as she hits to score two and level the game up.

A reminder that Italy have never won a medal at a World Women’s Curling Championship. The prize for beating Sweden today? A shot to play for one.

It’s been a story of one-enders between Japan and Canada thus far and we go into the break at 2-2.

But the opportunities to score more have been there for both teams. Who can seize control in the second half?

Guess who’s in the building? None other than World Junior Curling Championships silver medallists in 2022, Team Moa Dryburgh. You might also notice that Daniel Magnusson is there – he was alternate for Team Niklas Edin in Beijing 2022. Is this the future of Swedish curling?

The juniors are clubmates of the Team Anna Hasselborg and know them all too well. We even wrote a feature about the skip, which can be read here.

No messing about. We’ve reached the halfway mark after just an hour or so of play – that’s a speedy opening five ends. Italy remain happy to bide their time and wait for an opportunity to score more than one. Patience.

Sweden lead 2-0, and are yet to have last-stone advantage. Could that major championship experience prove crucial for Team Anna Hasselborg?

Kevin Martin on commentary is stunned. Kerri Einarson has, what Martin calls a “fairly straightforward” double take-out to score three – but the Canadian skip can’t make enough contact with one of Japan’s red stones and they give up a steal. Could that be a deciding moment in the contest? A sigh of relief for Fujisawa and co.

Still early days, of course, as Japan lead 2-1 going into the fifth end.

Canada opt to blank the third end and keep the scores level. Likewise, Italy are happy to take the hammer into the fifth.

There is plenty of play-off match-play being demonstrated this morning. Keeping the hammer at all costs seems to be the tactical choice on both sheets. We’re running through ends quicker than Usain Bolt in his prime.

Kerri Einarson 🇨🇦 makes a brilliant runback to split both opposition rocks out of play!

Watch live on the Curling Channel: https://t.co/fy3vfdC4XH#WWCC2023 #curling pic.twitter.com/vQo0yOKlX5

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 25, 2023

Here’s a few snaps from this morning…

It’s been a pretty flawless start to proceedings from Sweden. They’ve compounded the steal in the second with another in the next end. Couldn’t have asked for better stone placement from all eight Swedish throws there.

Yet to have the hammer, the hosts lead 2-0 after three.

An opportunity for a blanked end is on the cards here for Italy, which didn’t look likely after a few misses from the young quartet. However, Stefania Constantini’s own attempt at an angle-raised take-out misses shot stone. Sweden lead 1-0 after two ends.

Japan respond to Canada’s single-pointer with one of their own, despite a shot at a deuce. However, Fujisawa’s draw can’t curl enough in time so we have a tied game at one apiece.

Throughout the week, we’ve had some fantastic support in Sandviken – would we expect anything else? Lots of colourful Swedish chants this morning, which actually produces a wry smile from the usually indistractable skip Anna Hasselborg.

From revelling local school children to bell-ringing Swiss fans, it’s been wonderful to hear great noise to encourage the best women curlers in the world.

A couple of sheets over we have a few more stones in the house.

Canada, who have the hammer courtesy of a higher round-robin seeding, register a single-pointer in the opening end. An angle-raised take-out almost comes to fruition for Kerri Einarson to grab three points, but it can’t gather enough movement on the Japanese stone lying second shot.

There’s a great amount of support in the Göransson Arena so far, no doubt keen to support the home favourites.

The hearts might be pounding a little extra this morning – there’s a lot at stake, after all.

A couple of flashes in the opening end between Italy and Sweden but, Constantini – with the hammer – is happy enough to blank the first end. That went by quickly. Hopefully the nerves are out of the way now.

Of course, this morning’s match-ups will be the second time they’ve met this week. So, what happened in their round-robin encounters?

Italy ran out 7-3 winners over Sweden – which took place only yesterday afternoon. It was the second time in seven ties in which Team Stefania Constantini have got the better of Team Anna Hasselborg.

Similarly, it was only two days ago when Japan and Canada last faced off, with the former prevailing 6-5 on Thursday. It was the 25th time these two rinks had met, with Kerri Einarson and co winning 16 times. However, Fujisawa Satsuki has now won the previous three affairs.

Did you see our All-Star Team announced? Congratulations to the four players on their fantastic weeks in Sandviken.

Let us introduce the All-Star Team of the LGT World Women’s Curling Championship 2023#Curling #WWCC2023 pic.twitter.com/oaS9CZfHkT

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 24, 2023

It’s play-off time at the #WWCC2023!

At 10:00, we’ll have 2 qualification games.

🇨🇦 Canada v Japan 🇯🇵
🇮🇹 Italy v Sweden 🇸🇪

The winners join Switzerland and Norway in the semi-finals at 16:00.

✍️ https://t.co/Xd2GJdfAXm
📺 https://t.co/fy3vfdBx89#Curling

📸 WCF / Jeffrey Au pic.twitter.com/OqN2uljqhY

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 25, 2023

Happy birthday to Kim Sujin, lead for Team Korea at the #WWCC2023! 🥳🎂🎈

Have a great day in Sandviken!#Curling pic.twitter.com/vX2cRztKnh

— World Curling (@worldcurling) March 25, 2023

Good morning from snow-covered Sandviken!

Today is the first day of play-offs! At 10:00, we will have two qualification games and at 16:00, we’ll have two semi-finals to decide who’ll play for medals tomorrow.