At the BKT World Women’s Curling Championship in Calgary, a single stat — val sweeting at 85 per cent in one game — underscored how unpredictable the opening days have been. Canada secured a fifth straight win, beating Italy 9-6 on Tuesday at the WinSport Event Centre after skip Kerri Einarson swapped a stubborn stone at the fifth-end break. The pileup of surprising results has left playoff projections cloudy through the early round-robin.
Val Sweeting: statline amid tight battles
Mathilde Halse outcurled val sweeting 90 to 85 per cent in the Canada–Denmark game that finished 9-6, a small margin that reflected one of the tournament’s recurring themes: fine margins deciding games. Denmark was reduced to three players in that match because a team member fell ill, and Madeleine Dupont’s run-back double in the fourth end briefly swung momentum before Canada closed out the win. Those individual percentages have real weight now as teams jockey for the top six spots that advance to the playoffs.
Canada adapting on the ice and in the rink
Kerri Einarson, skip of Team Canada, described a midgame equipment change and the challenge of changing ice conditions. “I knew my rock was maybe a little slow because I came up light in the fourth end and they liked it out of my hand, ” Einarson said, recalling why she swapped a stone. “It just kind of dug in and then in the fifth, it did the same thing, so I just said, ‘Let’s get rid of it. ‘” She also warned about the warm morning draw at the WinSport Event Centre: “It’s very warm in here, and I think it’s very pathy now that it’s kind of warm out. If you’re in a good track, it’ll run. If you are outside of that, it is a little bit heavier, and I got caught a couple times. “
Standings have been fluid: Canada sat alone atop the table at 5-0 with Switzerland close behind at 5-1, Japan at 4-1 and several teams clustered behind. South Korea moved to 4-2 with a 12-7 victory over Turkey; China improved to 3-3 after a 6-1 win over the United States, and the U. S., Australia and Norway shared the lower rungs at 1-5.
Elsewhere, Torild Bjoernstad, skip of Norway, celebrated a breakthrough after Norway beat Sweden 9-7: “I’m really glad we finally made it. We’ve been struggling, so I’m really happy. ” Delaney Strouse, skip of the United States, reflected on her side’s first win, 7-2 over Australia: “It was nice to get a win, getting into this has been challenging. This will help to give us a little bit of confidence going forward. ” Turkey’s Oznur Polat, third for her team, noted confidence in her skip after a big win that kept Turkey unbeaten: “We are very happy about our situation right now. Our skip is very confident and a very strong player, and we always trust her!”
What’s next: split days, seeding and the numbers that will matter
Canada faces a night draw against Switzerland’s Xenia Schwaller as the event moves into split days that will test teams’ ability to adapt. The top six teams after pool play will advance to the playoffs, with the top two earning direct entry to the semifinals; there are no tiebreaker games, with head-to-head records and last-stone-draw ranking serving as the tiebreakers. Canada ranked first in last-stone draws after five games, a statistical edge that could prove decisive when the margin between teams is as small as the percent numbers shown by players such as val sweeting. Expect shot-making percentages and LSD rankings to shape the next phase as teams press for seeding and survival.
