Excited Einarson opens world championship with 7-5 win over Sweden

Canadian skip Kerri Einarson looked up Saturday and saw real people, instead of cardboard cut-outs, in the stands at Calgary's WinSport Event Centre. She heard the roar of the crowd instead of the sound of flushing toilets piercing the silence.

The change in sights and sounds — compared to her team's experience at the 2021 women's world curling championship in Calgary — made the opening match even sweeter as Canada beat Sweden 7-5 in the opening draw at the BKT Women's World Curling Championship.

"You didn't hear toilets flushing," Einarson said of the difference between then and now. "It was challenging times then, but it's nice to be back playing at the worlds and with fans.

"I get goosebumps every time as soon as they start cheering. It doesn't matter for what shot. It's just a pretty special moment."

Einarson, vice Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Karlee Burgess, of Manitoba's Gimli Curling Club, gave the crowd of 2,701 plenty to cheer about with a convincing victory over a Swedish foursome skipped by Isabella Wrana.

Curling with her brother last month in mixed doubles at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, Wrana made 97 per cent of her shots in a 6-5 victory over the United States in the gold-medal game.

On Saturday, Wrana struggled, making just 64 per cent of her shots in the loss to Canada.

"They played really well," Wrana said. "We started off pretty good, and then I had some difficulties in the middle there, and that's when they took their chances."

Sweden scored a deuce in the first end and held Canada to a single point in the second. But Canada stole one in the third to tie the game. The teams exchanged singles in the fourth and fifth ends, and the scoreboard read 3-3 at the fifth-end break.

"We didn't start off that great, but we battled back," Burgess said. "So we regrouped after the fifth end. Ultimately, we just said, 'Stay patient,' because we all kind of knew that we weren't playing to our best."

On her final shot of the sixth end, Wrana stared down three Canadian rocks in the house. She managed to vanquish one Canadian stone but two remained, giving Canada a steal of two and a lead they would not relinquish.

"We just stayed patient," Burgess said. "We got some good shots in the last half and some good team sweeps.

"I have the Maple Leaf on my back, and the crowd was behind us the whole way. So yeah, it's pretty special and pretty amazing. To be honest, I feel very lucky to have this opportunity."

This is the first women's world championship for the 27-year-old Burgess. And due to February's Olympic Games pushing the Scotties Tournament of Hearts earlier in the calendar, Burgess had to wait more than a month for the world championship to begin.