Big Score Helps Einarson Comeback over Korea

Gimli's Kerri Einarson (photo: Michael Burns, Curling Canada) scored four in the sixth end overcoming a 3-point deficit enroute to a 7-5 win over Korea's Seungyoun Ha. The reigning Canadian champions, with four consecutive titles, Einarson, with Val Sweeting at third, Shannon Birchard at second and Briane Harris at lead have eased into the season with a quiet schedule, with their win against Ha being their 9th win on the season against four losses. On the other side, Ha is 29-19 already on the season, with Hyerin Kim at third, Taei Yang and Sujin Kim on the front end, starting their season in June, finishing their at the Korean National Championship. On Thursday evening at the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls, Ha appeared to be getting the best of Canada's top team, scoring two in the first end, then stealing a single point in the third end to lead 3-0. Einarson was forced to a single in the third end, then held Ha to one in the fifth end, where the Canadian side was left with a 4-1 deficit. In the sixth end it all turned around for Einarson, her shot a hit that removed two stones from the four foot, the last one moving just far enough to count 4-scoring points biting the four-foot circle. In the seventh end, Ha had a counting point on the button for most of the end, with Einarson rocks in blocking attempts to count more, with last rock over-curling and leaving a single point for the Koreans to tie the game. In the eighth end, Einarson got two points to seal the victory. Einarson improved to 2-1 with the win, maintinaing control over their own destiny heading into their final round-robin game on Friday against Ottawa's Rachel Homan, also 2-1 after losing 8-7 to Italy's Stefania Constantini in the evening draw. The game can be seen on Sportsnet at 3:30 pm Eastern Time. Einarson won their opening game on Tuesday, 5-3 over Winnipeg's Kate Cameron, then dropped a 6-5 decision against Sweden's Anna Hasselborg. Ha dropped to 1-2 with the loss, losing 6-5 to Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg on Tuesday, and winning 7-5 over Clancy Grandy on Wednesday. Ha finishes the round-robin against Constantini. Round-robin action finishes on Friday evening with playoffs starting Saturday. The top 8 finishers advance to a single knockout championship bracket with the Championship Final on Sunday on Sportsnet.