On-ice adjustments help Canada’s Team Einarson prevail against Italy at 2026 World Women’s Curling Championship

Canada remained undefeated with a battle-tested win on Tuesday morning at the 2026 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship, presented by Pharmasave.

After going neck and neck with Italy’s Team Stefania Constantini (1-4), Canada earned a 9-6 victory for its fifth win of the week.

Canada skip Einarson, third/vice-skip Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard, lead Karlee Burgess, alternate Krysten Karwacki, coach Reid Carruthers, and national coach Viktor Kjell remain the only undefeated team in the 13-team field as they approach the halfway point of the round-robin schedule.

Tied at five in the eighth end, Canada scored four to seize the late-game lead and seal Italy’s fate. The turning point came when Sweeting was gifted a second opportunity to make a thin double after Italian third Giulia Zardini Lacedelli was heavy on her draw. Sweeting’s shot left Canada sitting three, forcing Constantini to gamble on her last shot with a draw against three. It kissed a stone in the 12-foot, leaving Einarson with the hit for four.

“I felt like the end of the game turned on that,” Einarson said of Sweeting getting a second chance to make the double. “I felt like she was going to make it. You don’t want to give someone the same shot twice in a row, so I knew she was going to make that one.”

That took the wind out of Italy’s sails. In the ninth, Constantini made a draw against three to score, but Italy still offered handshakes to concede the match.

It wasn’t the prettiest of games for the Canadians, but a key takeaway was how well they adjusted to their environment. Playing their first morning draw of the competition, Canada faced a noisier building with school kids in the stands at WinSport Arena, along with shifting ice conditions and trouble with stones — Einarson was throwing uncharacteristically light in the first half.

“I think I knew my rock was maybe a little slow because I came up light in the fourth end and they liked it out of my hand,” Einarson said. “It just kind of dug in, and then in the fifth, it did the same thing, so I just said let’s get rid of it, and so I have just a different rock.”

But after swapping stones, Einarson came into the second half of the game in full control.

As the week progresses, reading those shifting ice conditions will be crucial, and Team Einarson is counting on past experience to pay off as teams battle for the six available playoff spots.

“A little more curl, a little patchier at times, so we just had to dial into the pass a little bit more. As the game went on, we got more and more comfortable with that,” Birchard assessed. “We swapped the lineup and the stones a little bit, just everybody felt more comfortable after we did that. In general, we’re loving the ice and I think we’re just keeping up the chatter and making sure that everyone’s feeling comfortable out there and making adjustments if we’re not.”

Canada started the game with hammer and scored two on a wide draw to the button, but Italy replied the following end with its own draw for two. After exchanging single points, Team Einarson scored their second deuce of the game in the sixth, chasing Italy’s shot stone around a corner guard to remove it. Italy then faced immense pressure in the seventh after Lacedelli had a hog-line violation on her final shot, leaving Constantini needing to draw to the button against four Canadian counters.

Only two additional games were in play on Tuesday morning. Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa (4-1) defeated Australia’s Team Helen Williams (1-5) 7-2, and Sweden’s Team Isabella Wranaa (4-2) needed an extra end to defeat Scotland’s Team Fay Henderson (2-4) 8-6.

Switzerland’s Team Xenia Schwaller (4-1), Turkey’s Team Dilsat Yildiz (4-1), South Korea’s Team Eunji Gim (3-2), China’s Team Rui Wang (2-3), Denmark’s Team Madeleine Dupont (2-3), Norway’s Team Torlid Bjoernstad (1-4) and Team Delaney Stoude of the U.S.A. (1-4) all had byes this morning.

The 2026 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship continue Tuesday with draws at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. (all times Mountain).

Team Canada has one more game on the docket, taking on Switzerland during the evening draw.

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/