(by Larry Wood)
It’s Oh Canada . . . already! Five draws into the 2012 Ford World Women’s Curling Championship and Heather Nedohin’s Canucks already are out front in the global pack at the Enmax Centre with the only unbeaten record in the tournament.
Canada’s team won its third straight Sunday night when Swiss skip Mirjam Ott overthrew a last-rock tap on a Nedohin stone half-hidden behind a centre guard which left Canada with a 6-5 win. The Swiss stone nicked the target and rolled on through the rings while the Canadian rock wasn’t erased from the scoring area.
Heather Nedohin calls to her teammates during the 2012 Ford World Women’s Curling Championship. (Photo: CCA/Michael Burns Photography)
“It’s not nice when you steal like that,” said Nedohin later. “I like seeing the skip make her last rock. You know, as they say, you have to put it in its place and they’ve got to make it. I’m surprised she missed in the sense of how well they played to that point. And I was surprised she played as much weight as she did.”
Canada opened with a deuce and still led by two at the half but the Swiss tied it in the sixth and stole a go-ahead point in the seventh. Nedohin was forced to take a tying point in the eighth and Ott succeeded in blanking the ninth to retain the hammer. But she misfired on it.
“It was a tight game, but it wasn’t necessarily either one of our teams’ best games,” said Nedohin. “We’ll take it, but it wasn’t pretty.”
Canada plays the Czechs and Denmark today.