Sweden become first women’s team to qualify for semis at Olympic Winter Games

In Tuesday’s ninth women’s round-robin session, Canada beat table-toppers Sweden 8-6 to break their winning streak. However, due to already having six wins under their belt at this stage in the competition and the way other results went in this session, Sweden became the first women’s team to qualify for the semi-finals.

After a blanked first end by Sweden, skip Anna Hasselborg attempted to take out two lying Canadian stones in the second. However, her shot clipped a guard, leaving Canada a chance to shot for three. Skip Rachel Homan attempted to draw with a spinner, but her attempt also clipped a guard and had to settle for the two.

Rachel Homan, Canada © World Curling / Celine Stucki

After a draw for one by Hasselborg in the third, Homan responded by clearing a lying Swedish counter for a single in the fourth.

In the fifth end, Homan attempted a double take-out with her final stone but only managed to remove one Swedish counter and also one of her own stones, leaving an open hit for Hasselborg. This hit was successful, and Sweden scored three going into the fifth-end break with a 4-3 lead.

Sara McManus, Sweden © World Curling / Celine Stucki

Canada had last stone advantage in the sixth end, and when Sweden’s Hasselborg came to play her final stone, she had to do some damage control as Canada were lying three. Hasselborg played a precise draw to settle her stone into second counter position, forcing Homan to draw her final stone and settle for two. However, her draw over curled and Canada only scored one to level the score 4-4.

Hasselborg played a draw for a single in the seventh end and in the eighth, Homan played her own draw to meet another one of her counters, bringing Canada into a 6-5 lead.

Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes © World Curling / Celine Stucki

In the ninth end, Hasselborg had the opportunity to remove a Canadian counter to score two, however her hit was too heavy and her shooter rolled out, forcing her to settle for a single. The score sat at 6-6 going into the final end and Canada had hammer.

Canada were lying shot stone when Hasselborg came to play her final stone, in which she played a draw to the four foot. This allowed Homan to make a precise nose-hit and score two for an 8-6 final score and win.

After putting a stop to Sweden’s winning ways, Canadian skip Rachel Homan said, “We’re just trying to get better every game that we’re playing and we’re fighting hard out there for every last inch and we’re just trying to stay within our team.

Play-offs are still in contention for this team, and about this, Homan said, “We’re obviously trying hard and battling out there, just trying to take it one shot at a time.”

Tracy Fleury, Canada © World Curling / Celine Stucki

When Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg found out her team had qualified for the semi-finals, she said, “Oh wow! This has made me very happy!

“That’s good news, and also a little weird because I’m very disappointed with my performance there, so that feels like a bandage over the wound!”

Italy secured their second win of the competition when they beat bottom of the table Japan 8-6.

The teams were level 1-1 in the fourth end and when Italy had two lying counters, skip Stefania Constantini played a draw to add another and take the 4-1 lead.

Marta Lo Deserto, Italy © World Curling / Celine Stucki

Japan responded in the fifth end when skip Yoshimura Sayaka played a raise take-out to remove an Italian counter that was sitting between two Japanese stones. They scored three and levelled the score 4-4 going into the fifth-end break.

In the sixth end, Italy had one lying on the button and Constantini attempted a hit-and-roll to score two. However, it didn’t roll far enough and she just had to settle for one.

The teams swapped singles in the seventh and eighth ends and in the ninth, Japan were lying one on the button when Constantini came to play her penultimate stone. With this she played a triple take-out removing all Japanese stones in the house and leaving four Italian counters. Yoshimura played a draw that was just short of the button, and Constantini followed it up with a guard. However, Yoshimura was able to play a raise tap-back on her own stone, promoting it to the button and scoring one. The score was level 6-6 going into to final end.

Ohmiya Anna © World Curling / Celine Stucki

Italy kept their cool and with her final stone, Constantini played a promotion take-out on a Japanese counter, to move her stone into the centre of the house. This stone joined another Italian counter to score the winning two points and Italy left the ice with a final 8-6 win.

After getting their second win, Italian skip Stefania Constantini said, “It feels good, finally we got two wins. I think we increased a little bit with our performance and we are controlling the ice better. Today we struggled a little bit but I think we managed the scoreboard until the end.

Cortina is Constantini’s hometown and when asked about how it feels to have this backing, she said, “It feels incredible. I think we are really enjoying the crowd supporting us here in Cortina. It’s something really special that will be a really good memory for the future and it’s so hard to think that in some days it will be finished and I will miss it for sure!”

Stefania Constantini, Italy © World Curling / Celine Stucki

United States of America played Denmark in this session and won by 10-3 in eight ends. The Americans had a 6-3 lead going into the eighth end and good build-up play allowed skip Tabitha Peterson to play a draw into a house that already had three of their own counters and score four.

The score was level 3-3 going into the fifth end break when Republic of Korea played Switzerland in this session. Switzerland then took control and had a 7-4 lead going into the last end, helped by a score of two when Swiss fourth Alina Paetz played a double take-out. Korea managed to score a single in the tenth when Paetz’s double take-out attempt wasn’t successful, but Switzerland still walked away with a 7-5 win.