GANGNEUNG, Korea (WCF)– Italy’s Diana Gaspari scored four points in the eighth end to upend 2003 world champion Debbie McCormick 9-6 at the 2009 Mount Titlis World Women’s Curling Championship.
The battle of winless teams saw Italy improve to 1-4 while the U.S. fell to 0-4, by far the worst world championship start in McCormick’s career.
The Americans, recent winners at the U.S. Olympic Trials to qualify for Vancouver 2010, are competing in their fourth consecutive world championship.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to turn things around,” said McCormick.
“We’re just missing the critical shots.”
For Italy, their 2010 Olympic dream was a challenge long before they lost their opening four games. The Italians are in 11th place on the World Curling Federation’s Olympic Qualifying Points list, which decides the 10 teams that will compete next February at the Vancouver Olympic Centre.
The 2009 Mount Titlis World Women’s Curling Championship is the final qualifying event for women’s curling at Vancouver 2010.
“It’s a really hard goal right now,” admitted Gaspari, who finished 10th with a 1-8 record at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Pinerolo. That year, the Italians earned their Olympic berth as the host nation.
“We know we have to make playoffs to have a chance but we don’t think about that. We are a young team and we need these games to gain experience.
“But we are here.”
Meanwhile, Canada’s Jennifer Jones crushed Eve Muirhead of Scotland 9-3. The defending champions scored three points in the first end and a huge five-ender in the fifth in a match that lasted only the required six ends.
In the other Monday afternoon games, Sweden’s Anette Norberg pounded Russia’s Liudmila Privivkova 9-3 and China’s Bingyu Wang edged Korea’s Mi-Yeon Kim 7-6.
Canada and Denmark (Angelina Jensen) are both 4-0, with Sweden a game back at 4-1. China and Switzerland (Mirjam Ott) are 3-1 while Scotland sits at 3-2. Germany’s veteran Andrea Schoepp is 2-2, Russia is 1-3, and Italy and Korea are 1-4. Norway (Marianne Roervik) and the United States are both 0-4.