(by Larry Wood)
It’s back to the congestion of a four-way traffic jam at the Enmax Centre as the Ford World Women’s Curling Championship heads into its last two qualifying round-robin draws.
The morning’s leaders all suffered setbacks and Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott defeated red-hot Korea 6-5 to rejoin the Koreans, Canadians and Swedes at 7-and-3.
Heather Nedohin reacts to a play at the 2012 Ford World Women’s Curling Championship. (Photo: CCA/Michael Burns Photography)
Allison Pottinger of the U.S. (6-and-4) remained within sight of a playoff berth with a clutch 6-5 extra-end win over Sweden, the sixth straight decision for the Yanks after stumbling to four straight losses out of the gate.
In one other game of importance, Canada blew an opportunity to take control of their situation by losing 6-5 to Italy when skip Diana Gaspari executed a perfect double-kill with her last rock.
Idle Denmark, meanwhile, remains in the mix with the necessity of two wins later today — against the Swedes at 2 p.m. and the Yanks at 7 p.m.
Korea plays Russia at 2 p.m. while the Swiss wrap it up against Russia at 7 p.m. and Canada’s Heather Nedohin from Edmonton faces pre-tournament favourite Eve Muirhead (4-5) of Scotland.
Wins by all four 7-and-3 teams in their last games would leave Sweden ranked first, Canada second, the Swiss third and Korea fourth for Page playoff pairings.