Canada's Einarson defeats Japan to set up final vs. Switzerland at women's curling worlds

Canada's Kerri Einarson will play for gold at the women's curling world championship in Calgary.

Einarson's team out of Manitoba's Gimli Curling Club defeated Japan 11-3 in Saturday's semifinal. Japan conceded after eight ends.

Canada faces Switzerland's Xenia Schwaller for gold Sunday.

After losing semifinals in two previous appearances and taking the bronze medal, Einarson and company took a step closer to the coveted gold.

"It's a dream come true," the skip said. "It's something that we've worked extremely hard for over the years.

"We've had some disappointing games previous years, and now to finally get ourselves into that gold-medal game is a pretty special feeling."

Einarson, vice Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and Karlee Burgess seek their first world title.

"It's just phenomenal for this team," Birchard said. "We've had so many cracks at the world championship and just haven't been able to get past the semifinal.

"I hope we can just put it all out there tomorrow and bring home a gold for Canada."

Einarson, Sweeting, Birchard and lead Briane Harris were bronze medallists in 2023 and 2022.

Burgess, who posted 100 per cent shooting accuracy in the semifinal, joined the team just over a year ago.

Birchard was an alternate on the Jennifer Jones team that won the world championship in 2018 in North Bay, Ont.

Canada and Switzerland clash for gold a third straight year after Canada's Rachel Homan defeated Silvana Tirinzoni in the 2025 and 2024 finals.

Einarson faces a young Schwaller side, with an average age of 22.5, that played fearless in an extra end win over the Canadians in pool play.