Canada downs Sweden during opening draw at 2026 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship

Canada’s Team Kerri Einarson returned to competitive curling on opening day at the 2026 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship, presented by Pharmasave, showing no signs of rust despite their long hiatus.

The Canadian representatives from Gimli, Man., secured a 7-5 win over Sweden’s Team Isabella Wranaa on Saturday afternoon at Calgary’s WinSport Events Centre. Skip Einarson, supported by third/vice-skip Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard, lead Karlee Burgess, alternate Krysten Karwacki, coach Reid Carruthers, and national coach Viktor Kjell, capitalized on back-to-back late-game steals to swing momentum in their favour.

Team Einarson executed a short runback to sit three, forcing Wranaa — fresh off an Olympic mixed doubles gold with her brother Rasmus — to attempt a difficult double or even a triple. Sweden removed only one stone, allowing Canada to steal two points.

In the seventh end, Team Einarson made a double to sit two, and Sweden’s heavy draw only outscored one Canadian stone, adding another point for Canada.

Leading by one with hammer, Canada didn’t need to throw its final stone in the 10th end. Sweden’s draw came up light, handing Canada another point and, more importantly, its first win of the week.

“I think we had just really good rock placement, and our weight control is really good,” Einarson said. “We put some pressure on them, and they had to make some really good ones to even score.”

This marked Team Einarson’s first competitive game since winning the Scotties Tournament of Hearts on Feb. 1. The six-week Olympic break gave teams plenty of practice but left Einarson’s rink eager to return. The win was the 28th of Einarson’s world championship career and the first for teammate Burgess.

“It’s my first win in a women’s (world championship), but ultimately I want to keep winning,” Burgess said. “Ultimately, I want to get to the (closing) weekend. But it’s so fun to play out there, and the crowd was great.”

Neither team gained a clear advantage early. Sweden opened with a deuce, but Canada responded with a single in the second end and a steal in the third to tie the game. In the fourth, Team Wranaa settled for one after a missed tap for two, then held Canada to a single in the fifth by forcing a soft-weight blank attempt around a centre guard.

“We just talked about our rocks and being comfortable moving forward, and just a little bit about speed and ultimately we just said stay patient because we all kind of knew we weren’t playing our best,” Burgess said of the fifth-end break discussion. “We got some good shots in the last half and some good team sweeps, so it was a good, strong second half.”

In other opening draw action, Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa defeated Switzerland’s Team Xenia Schwaller 6-3, Turkey’s Team Dilsat Yildiz earned an 8-7 extra-end win over Norway’s Team Torlid Bjoernstad, and China’s Team Rui Wang earned a 7-6 extra-end win over Scotland’s Team Fay Henderson.

The 2026 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship continues with a draw Saturday at 7 p.m. (all times Mountain).

Canada is back on the ice against Team Delaney Strouse of the United States, who will be playing its first game of the event.

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2026 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship are available by CLICKING HERE.

TSN and RDS2 will provide coverage of all Team Canada games, and all playoff games, at the 2026 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship. CLICK HERE for the broadcast schedule.

For ticket information for the 2026 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship, go to www.curling.ca/2026worldwomen/tickets/.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/fr/2026worldwomen/nouvelles/