The Canadian women’s curling team advanced to the finals after a tense and tortuous match against Switzerland at the Vancouver Olympics
Both teams came out missing easy shots, but settled down in the final end to play with all the excellence one would expect of potential Olympic champions.
The final few shots were critical; Canada’s Cheryl Bernard and Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott needed to be perfect. In the end Bernard made her last shot count, while Ott’s last shot rolled a few feet too far, giving Canada the game.
Canadian skip (team captain) Cheryl Barnard told an NBC reporter that halfway through the game, her team came to terms with the pressure.
“We really settled in after the fifth and said, ‘You know what? We gotta go back to what we do and what we know how to do, and try to forget about what is on the line here,’” she said. “That’s the problem, we were thinking about what was on the line.”
About facing Sweden for a gold medal on her home ice, Bernard said, “Pretty sweet. You couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Canada opened the game trying for a blank, but missed, and had to settle for one point. Switzerland had the hammer in the second but missed the last shot and settled for one. Canada scored two in the third end, and in the fourth and fifth and both teams tried, and failed, to blank the ends. Whether the ice was tricky or the players were bending under pressure, the shooting was terrible.
Canada had the hammer in the sixth and scored two, despite good shooting by Switzerland’s Carmen Keung. But in the seventh and eighth, both teams missed key shots. At one point Bernard and Ott, team captains or “skips” as they are called, threw back-to-back airballs, missing the house and all the other rocks.
Switzerland came into the final end down two, but with the hammer. Canada started terribly, with Cori Bartel missing her first two shots. Then suddenly both teams woke up and started shooting.
Switzerland’s Janine Greiner curled a sweet shot behind cover and well to the side of the eight-foot ring where it would be tough to take out. Canada’s Carolyn Darbeyshire responded with a tricky double takeout which rolled closest to the center, to be the scoring rock (“shot rock.”) Swiss third Carmen Schaeffer then picked off one Canadian rock.
Each shooter was placing her rock so precisely on the ice, only a perfect shot could get by to score. And each time, the next shooter stepped up to make that shot.
Bernard threw next, taking out one Swiss rock but leaving a narrow opening through which Mirjam Ott could sneak in to score. Somehow Ott threaded her rock through and tapped a Swiss rock into a Canadian rock, knocking it out and leaving Switzerland set to score two points at least.
Bernard responded by aiming at, and hitting, the narrowest exposed sliver of a Swiss rock, knocking it out of scoring range. This left Switzerland’s future in Ott’s hands. She once again threaded through the narrow port with fractions of an inch to spare, and hit the closest Canadian rock. But Ott threw a bit too hard, and her rock rolled out of the house, leaving Switzerland with only one point for the end. Canada won 6–5, earning a spot in the finals against Sweden.
“We miscalled my first one a little bit it needed to roll just a touch and then she has a really tough shot but we missed that a bit,” Bernard explained. “I didn’t think she could roll that far. That left me a sliver of a wide-open hit. Got that and then her last shot, I thought, was impossible I didn’t think she could roll out.”
While the Canadian team was crying tears of joy, the Swiss skip, Mirjam Ott, was fighting back tears of sorrow. Bernard said she could sympathize.
“To have a shot, that’s all you want ever. I understand, but and one of us was going to be feeling that way. It’s unfortunate, but I’m happy we’re on the other side of it, I have to say.”
Both teams came out missing easy shots, but settled down in the final end to play with all the excellence one would expect of potential Olympic champions.
The final few shots were critical; Canada’s Cheryl Bernard and Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott needed to be perfect. In the end Bernard made her last shot count, while Ott’s last shot rolled a few feet too far, giving Canada the game.
Canadian skip (team captain) Cheryl Barnard told an NBC reporter that halfway through the game, her team came to terms with the pressure.
“We really settled in after the fifth and said, ‘You know what? We gotta go back to what we do and what we know how to do, and try to forget about what is on the line here,’” she said. “That’s the problem, we were thinking about what was on the line.”
About facing Sweden for a gold medal on her home ice, Bernard said, “Pretty sweet. You couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Tense Finish
Canada opened the game trying for a blank, but missed, and had to settle for one point. Switzerland had the hammer in the second but missed the last shot and settled for one. Canada scored two in the third end, and in the fourth and fifth and both teams tried, and failed, to blank the ends. Whether the ice was tricky or the players were bending under pressure, the shooting was terrible.
Canada had the hammer in the sixth and scored two, despite good shooting by Switzerland’s Carmen Keung. But in the seventh and eighth, both teams missed key shots. At one point Bernard and Ott, team captains or “skips” as they are called, threw back-to-back airballs, missing the house and all the other rocks.
Switzerland came into the final end down two, but with the hammer. Canada started terribly, with Cori Bartel missing her first two shots. Then suddenly both teams woke up and started shooting.
Switzerland’s Janine Greiner curled a sweet shot behind cover and well to the side of the eight-foot ring where it would be tough to take out. Canada’s Carolyn Darbeyshire responded with a tricky double takeout which rolled closest to the center, to be the scoring rock (“shot rock.”) Swiss third Carmen Schaeffer then picked off one Canadian rock.
Each shooter was placing her rock so precisely on the ice, only a perfect shot could get by to score. And each time, the next shooter stepped up to make that shot.
Bernard threw next, taking out one Swiss rock but leaving a narrow opening through which Mirjam Ott could sneak in to score. Somehow Ott threaded her rock through and tapped a Swiss rock into a Canadian rock, knocking it out and leaving Switzerland set to score two points at least.
Bernard responded by aiming at, and hitting, the narrowest exposed sliver of a Swiss rock, knocking it out of scoring range. This left Switzerland’s future in Ott’s hands. She once again threaded through the narrow port with fractions of an inch to spare, and hit the closest Canadian rock. But Ott threw a bit too hard, and her rock rolled out of the house, leaving Switzerland with only one point for the end. Canada won 6–5, earning a spot in the finals against Sweden.
“We miscalled my first one a little bit it needed to roll just a touch and then she has a really tough shot but we missed that a bit,” Bernard explained. “I didn’t think she could roll that far. That left me a sliver of a wide-open hit. Got that and then her last shot, I thought, was impossible I didn’t think she could roll out.”
While the Canadian team was crying tears of joy, the Swiss skip, Mirjam Ott, was fighting back tears of sorrow. Bernard said she could sympathize.
“To have a shot, that’s all you want ever. I understand, but and one of us was going to be feeling that way. It’s unfortunate, but I’m happy we’re on the other side of it, I have to say.”
