SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – Chelsea Carey and her Canadian teammates know they can’t underestimate anyone at the world women’s curling championship. Carey stayed on top of the standings with a 7-5 win over Germany’s Daniela Driendl on Tuesday morning at the Credit Union iPlex.
The Canadians had to stay sharp throughout the game against a young German rink that was ready to take advantage of any mistake.
“They played really well,” said Carey. “I’ve never played them before so I didn’t know what to expect, especially in the first half. We didn’t miss that many — they just played that well.”
Carey’s Calgary-based rink (5-1) took advantage of steals in the seventh and eighth ends to pull away from Germany (3-3). Canada was in a three-way tie for first place with Scotland and Switzerland after nine draws.
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Canada opened with a single in the first end, but Driendl replied with an easy draw in the second to tie the game. The teams blanked the third end and Carey added a single in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead.
Driendl threw a takeout in the fifth end for three points but Carey replied with a deuce in the sixth to tie it 4-4.
“That three that they set up was a great roll that they made, then I missed a shot and they executed the rest of the end perfect,” said Carey. “They played very very well for sure.”
Canada stole a point in the seventh when Germany missed on a takeout attempt.
Driendl’s woes continued in the eighth end when she hit a guard on her final rock, giving Canada another steal. Local school groups in the arena chanted “Let’s Go Canada!” as the German skip was visibly upset at her misplay.
The home-country support hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Canadian curlers.
“It’s fun to be here,” said third Amy Nixon. “Every time we walk out and the crowd cheers, whether it’s Tuesday morning in Swift Current or Sunday night, it give me tingles every time.
“The kids here today from the schools, they were awesome.”
Germany used a light tap to cut into Canada’s lead in the ninth end, but that handed Carey the hammer to close out the game. She made the most of her last throw with a tapout that gave Canada a single and the win.
Carey was scheduled to meet Italy’s Federica Apollonio (0-5) in the afternoon draw.
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