Day Two in the books at Capital One World Women’s

Through play Saturday evening in Esbjerg, Denmark, defending champion Germany and surprising Norway are atop the leaderboard with 2-0 records at the Capital One World Women’s Curling Championship. Germany, skipped by veteran Andrea Schöpp, won its second match, taking four in the ninth end to upend Switzerland’s Mirjam Ott, 10-7 in Draw 3 action. Schöpp, who won the Ford World Women’s last year over Scotland’s Eve Muirhead in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, her second such title following a victory in 1988, had opened defence of her title with an 8-3 thumping of host Denmark on Friday evening. Meanwhile, Norway’s Linn Githmark, the 2004 world junior champion who finished with a 3-8 mark last year in Swift Current, kept pace with a 5-2 decision over Korea (Mi-Sung Shin). She also won her opener on Friday, stunning Sweden, 8-7. Canada, skipped by Saskatchewan’s Amber Holland and Czech Republic’s Anna Kubeskova are next at 1-0. Holland won her first game Saturday morning, 8-6 over the 2009 world champion, Bingyu Wang of China, while Kubeskova surprised Scotland’s Anna Sloan, 6-5. Sweden, Switzerland, Russia and the United States are at 1-1. Sweden, skipped by two-time Olympic gold medallist Anette Norberg, defeated Russia’s Liudmila Privivkova, 8-4, while Patti Lank of the United States, who won silver at the 1999 Ford Worlds in Saint John, New Brunswick, evened her record with a 7-6 clipping of Denmark (Lene Nielsen), stealing two in the 10th end for the win. Still winless are China and Scotland at 0-1, with Denmark and Korea at 0-2. Round robin play continues with two draws on Sunday, followed by three draws daily, Monday through Thursday, to complete the round robin. On Sunday, Canada faces Russia’s Liudmila Privivkova and Denmark’s Lene Nielsen. The Page Playoffs (1 vs 2; 3 vs 4) will be held Friday and Saturday, followed by the semi-final. Both the bronze medal (loser of Page 3-4 vs semi-final loser) and gold medal games (winner of Page 1-2 vs semi-final winner) will be contested on Sunday, March 27. TSN will carry many Canada round robin games live, plus the playoffs.