Nobody was cheering harder for Team Switzerland than Team Canada’s Kerri Einarson and her Gimli-based foursome on Friday at the World Women’s Curling Championship.
After completing the round robin with a victory earlier in the day to finish with a 7-6 record, Einarson and company needed some help to qualify for the playoff round.
READ MORE: Einarson extends win streak to 4 games at world curling playdowns in Calgary
But with first-place Switzerland defeating Germany 8-3 in draw 23 on Friday afternoon, it gave Canada one of the six available playoff berths.
After an extremely slow start to the event, Einarson and her team has rounded into form the last few days. They knocked off China 6-4 earlier on Friday to win six of their final seven games to just squeak into the next round.
READ MORE: Manitoba’s Team Einarson beats China to improve playoff chances at world curling playdowns
The Russian Curling Federation, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and the United States have also locked up their spots in the playoffs with one draw remaining on Friday night. Canada could finish as high as fourth and as low as sixth place pending the outcome of the final draw.
The top two seeds advance directly to the semifinals, while the other four playoff entries will meet in qualification games Saturday morning.
The playoff berth also means Canada qualifies for the women’s curling competition at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.