Russia posts Monday sweep at 2016 Ford Worlds

SWIFT CURRENT — It was a bounceback day for Russia in a big way Monday at the Ford World Women’s Curling championship, sponsored by Meridian Manufacturing. Russia’s Anna Sidorova (4-1) knocked Canada’s Chelsea Carey (3-1) from the ranks of the unbeaten on the morning draw, and hours later topped Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson(1-3) 10-5 in the afternoon. Russia’s only loss came against Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa on Sunday. Sweden opened the scoring with two on the second. Russia got three back in the third after playing a good corner-guard game. The fourth end was the turning point when Sidorova made one of the shots of the tournament. Facing three guarded Swedish rocks in the four-foot, the Russian skip had little choice but throw a big-weight, relatively low-percentage hit — at least for most curlers. Sidorova came in off a rock of her own in the 12-foot, rolled into the four-foot where her shooter rubbed around before nestling for shot rock in a cluster of Swedish stones. It was a four- or five-point turn in the game. The possibility of giving up three or four turned, just like that, into a steal of one for Russia. After a steal of two on the fifth end, Sweden couldn’t catch up. “They were two big wins against two great teams,” said Sidorova, who’s backed up by third Margarita Fomina, second Alexandra Raeva, lead Nkeiruka Ezeh, alternate Alina Kovaleva and coaches Svetlana Kalalb and Rodger Schmidt. She recognized the success of Canada and Sweden in curling lore, but said there are no soft touches at the Ford Worlds. “When we were going to this event, we didn’t think any game would be easy,” she said. “Everyone comes here to win. Every game is a fight and we have to fight for every score. We didn’t expect it to be easy. We are looking forward to playing the next game and it doesn’t matter against who.”
Team Germany vice-skip Analena Jentsch shows some intensity during her team's win over Finland. (Photo, Curling Canada/Michael Burns)

Team Germany vice-skip Analena Jentsch shows some intensity during her team’s win over Finland. (Photo, Curling Canada/Michael Burns)

She said it is important for her team to continue to build confidence. “The games as we go on will be even tougher, even more difficult on the mental side. We need to feel the ice and get the feeling we can play every shot and just be confident we are going to make it.” In a game for bragging rights in Asia, Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa (4-1) defeated South Korea’s Un Chi Gim (1-3) 6-5 on an extra end. In other games, Germany’s Daniela Driendl (3-1) fought back from a 5-1 deficit to defeat Finland’s Oona Kauste (1-4) 9-6, and Scotland’s Eve Muirhead (3-1) shaded Italy’s Federica Apollonio (0-5) 8-7. After being down 5-0 after two, the Italians fought back and tied the game at 7-7 after nine. Canada’s Chelsea Carey (3-1) had an afternoon bye, as did Erika Brown of the United States (1-3), Denmark’s Lene Nielsen (2-2) and Switzerland’s Binia Feltscher (3-1). Canada plays Sweden tonight at 7 p.m. MDT at the Credit Union iplex. For ticket and other event information, visit https://www.curling.ca/2016worldwomen/tickets/ For the complete results, standings, the schedule and much more, visit to https://www.curling.ca/2016worldwomen/ This story will be posted in French as soon as possible at https://www.curling.ca/2016worldwomen/?lang=fr TSN (RDS2 in French), the exclusive television network for Curling Canada’s Season of Champions, will provide complete coverage of the 2016 Ford Worlds.