Team Einarson will have a chance to represent their country after all following their second straight Scotties championship last weekend.
Einarson and her Gimli, Man., crew will get to wear the maple leaf on their back with the World Women’s Curling Championship back on. The bonspiel was originally called off last month after health authorities in Switzerland would not provide permission for the event due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“I feel absolutely amazing,” Team Canada skip Kerri Einarson said. “I’ve heard rumours about this and I just didn’t want to get my hopes up. So, to finally get a confirmation that it’s a go-ahead, it feels so unbelievable.”
The women’s worlds will now be staged in the Calgary bubble at the Markin MacPhail Centre where Einarson just won another national crown.
READ MORE: Women’s world curling championship back on calendar, added to Calgary bubble
Fourteen different countries will compete starting on April 30. The top six nations will automatically qualify for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.
Last year, Einarson and her crew were already in Prince George, B.C. for the 2020 World Women’s Curling Championship when it was cancelled just two days before the start of the event.
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READ MORE: Einarson crowned Scotties champ two years in a row, edges Homan 9-7
“Every time a new challenge comes up, we’re ready to take it, and we take it the best we can, and we move on,” Team Einarson lead Briane Meilleur said.
“Now we’re in a position that we wanted to be in, and we’re really excited that we get to play in these worlds. And so all that hard work, and all the crap we had to go through before — it all seems worth it.”
This will be the second trip to a world championship for second Shannon Birchard, but the first as a full-time competitor. Birchard attended the 2018 worlds in North Bay, Ont., as the fifth for Team Jennifer Jones who would go on to capture the championship.
READ MORE: Kerri Einarson, Brad Gushue team up for national mixed doubles championship
“This would be my first opportunity to play in a full worlds championship,” Birchard said. “I got a really great taste with the Jones team and was so grateful for that opportunity. And I hope to carry some of that experience into the bubble.
“It’s so wonderful to get this almost-second chance after last year, so I think we’re just ready to give it our all, and show the world our stuff.”
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