It’s no easy feat pulling off back-to-back Scotties championships, but for the second straight year, Kerri Einarson has found herself without a world championship to play in.
“My husband said to me before I came here, ‘You could be the first person to ever not go to Worlds and win twice,'” Einarson said after winning the Tournament of Hearts Sunday night.
The World Women’s Curling Championship was slated to take place from March 19–28 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, but Swiss health authorities nixed it before the first rock had even been thrown at the Scotties.
Disappointing, but it was even worse in 2020 when the teams were already in Prince George, B.C., and ready to roll when the event was abruptly cancelled because of the pandemic.
“When we heard the news, my first thought was, ‘Well, at least we weren’t there,'” Team Canada Third Val Sweeting said about Switzerland. “Even though (we knew) there was no Worlds, I think every player put their heart out there and it’s still a huge accomplishment to win this event again.
“We’re hoping something will happen for us.”
Now that glimmer of hope could be something more.
Curling Canada has submitted a formal request to host the Women’s World Championship in the curling bubble from April 27 – May 10, which would effectively extend the bubble by 13 days.
The province says the application is currently under review and no decision has been made.
“We would love to have an opportunity to be able to represent Canada and get us into the Olympics,” Einarson added.
Meanwhile, the Men’s World Championship is one of several events that will take place in the curling bubble in Calgary.
Two additional Grand Slam of Curling events in the spring will feature 24 of the top men’s and women’s teams from around the world — though play dates have not been finalized.
While there are certainly many challenges ahead — whether from the safety side or technical logistics — there’s still a chance this talented group could finally wear the maple leaf on the world stage and fight for a shot at the Olympics.
“We’ll keep working hard,” Sweeting said, with the Scotties trophy sitting in front of her. “We’ll do everything that we can to get us that spot.”
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