The 2021

World Women's Curling Championship The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and mixed doubles championships, as well as men's an ...

(branded as 2021 LGT World Women's Curling Championship for sponsorship reasons) was held 30 April to 9 May at the Markin MacPhail Centre at

Canada Olympic Park Canada Olympic Park (COP), formerly known as Paskapoo Ski Hill, is a ski hill and multi-purpose training and competition facility located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, owned and operated by WinSport. It is currently used both for high performance ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. The event was originally awarded to

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. In February 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, local authorities withdrew permission to host the event. On 5 March 2021, the championship was moved to Calgary. The event was held in a centralized "

bubble Bubble, Bubbles or The Bubble may refer to: Common uses * Bubble (physics), a globule of one substance in another, usually gas in a liquid ** Soap bubble * Economic bubble, a situation where asset prices are much higher than underlying fundame ...

" at Canada Olympic Park, which also hosted the men's world championship, as well as all major

Curling Canada Curling Canada (formerly the Canadian Curling Association (CCA)) is a sanctioning body for the sport of curling in Canada. It is associated with more than a dozen provincial and territorial curling associations across the country, and organizes ...

championships leading up to the Worlds. All events were held

behind closed doors Behind Closed Doors may refer to: Film, television and radio Film * ''Behind Closed Doors'' (1929 film), an early talkie starring Virginia Valli * Behind Closed Doors (1961 film), ''Behind Closed Doors'' (1961 film), an Italian comedy film by Dino ...

with no spectators. Silvana Tirinzoni and her Swiss team defended their title, from

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

since the 2020 Championship was cancelled, when they defeated Russian Alina Kovaleva (representative of the Russian Curling Federation) in the final, 4–2. During the round-robin against Denmark, the Swiss champions recorded the first eight-ender in World Curling Championship history. The United States, skipped by

Tabitha Peterson Tabitha Skelly Peterson (born March 6, 1989) is an American curler from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was a bronze medalist at the 2010 World Junior Championships and is a three-time women's national champion. She currently is skip of her own t ...

won the bronze medal, defeating the defending Olympic champion

Anna Hasselborg Anna Ellinor Hasselborg (born 5 May 1989) is a Swedish curler who is the 2018 Olympic Champion in women's curling and a former World Junior Champion skip. In November 2019, she became the first curler in history to reign as the simultaneous hol ...

rink from Sweden 9–5 in the bronze medal game.

Summary

The World Women's Curling Championship is the first event of the qualification process for

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

at the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

in Beijing; the

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

s representing the teams who finish in the top six will qualify directly to the Olympic tournament. The remaining teams that had qualified for the 2020 or 2021 World Women's Curling Championship, and have not yet qualified for the Olympics, will compete in the Olympic Qualification Event in December 2021 for the remaining three spots. If the team representing China (who already qualified as host nation) finishes in the top six, the sixth direct qualification spot from the world championship will be held over to the Olympic Qualification Event. During Draw 9 on Sunday, 2 May, Team Switzerland, skipped by

Silvana Tirinzoni Silvana Petra Tirinzoni (born 25 June 1979) is a Swiss curler from Zurich. She is a four-time women's world champion skip (, , , ) and five-time Grand Slam champion. She is a former world junior champion and reigning European champion. Tirinzo ...

, scored a rare eight-ender (in which all eight of the team's rocks ended up scoring) in the seventh end of their game against Denmark's

Madeleine Dupont Madeleine Kanstrup Dupont (born 26 May 1987 in Glostrup, Denmark) is a Danish curler from Copenhagen. She won the Frances Brodie Award in 2004. She currently skips her own team with teammates Mathilde Halse, Jasmin Holtermann, My Larsen, a ...

. Already sitting seven, Swiss fourth

Alina Pätz Alina Pätz (born 8 March 1990 in Urdorf, Switzerland) is a Swiss Curling, curler. She currently throws fourth stones on Team Silvana Tirinzoni, which represented Switzerland at the Curling at the 2022 Winter Olympics, 2022 Winter Olympics. She ...

just needed a draw to the full twelve–foot or better for the eighth point. Denmark immediately conceded, with the final score of the match being 13–4. It was the first eight-ender scored in World Curling Championships history (men or women). Switzerland and RCF were the top two teams after the round robin, finishing with 12–1 and 11–2 records, respectively. After the round robin, Switzerland defeated the United States 7–3, and RCF defeated Sweden 8–7 to get to the final. The United States, skipped by

won the bronze medal, defeating the defending Olympic champion

rink from Sweden 9–5 in the bronze medal game. The Americans took control of the game after scoring five points in the seventh end. It was the first medal for the U.S. since 2006. Silvana Tirinzoni and her Swiss team defended their title, from

since the 2020 Championship was cancelled, when they defeated Russian Alina Kovaleva (representative of the Russian Curling Federation) in the final, 4–2. In the final, RCF started the game off well without hammer, forcing Switzerland to a single point in the first end, as Switzerland faced two RCF rocks on their last stone, and chose a hit and stick to score one. After blanking the second end, Kovaleva missed a draw for two in the third end, settling for one point, and tying the game. Switzerland took a 3–1 lead in the fourth end after their last thrower,

made a double take-out for two points. RCF then blanked the next three ends, before being forced to a single point in the eighth, with Kovaleva making a tap-up against several Swiss rocks. Switzerland then blanked the ninth end to retain last rock advantage in the 10th and final end. They did not need to throw their last however, as Switzerland won the game after Kovaleva came up short on her final shot in the 10th end, a freeze attempt on a Swiss shot rock. Tirinzoni is only the fifth

skip Skip or Skips may refer to: Acronyms * SKIP (Skeletal muscle and kidney enriched inositol phosphatase), a human gene * Simple Key-Management for Internet Protocol * SKIP of New York (Sick Kids need Involved People), a non-profit agency aiding ...

, and first Swiss, to win back-to-back Women's Championships. Switzerland has won six of the last nine Women's Championships. The cancelling of the 2020 World Championships allowed Team Tirinzoni to win back to back World Championships, as they had lost the 2020 Swiss Women's Curling Championship to Elena Stern, thus not qualifying for Worlds that year. Switzerland's fourth stone thrower

won the Frances Brodie Award for sportsmanship.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Re-location to Calgary

The event was originally scheduled to be held 20–28 March 2021 at the Curlinghalle Schaffhausen in

. On 8 February 2021 the

World Curling Federation World Curling, formerly the World Curling Federation (WCF) is the world governing body for curling accreditation, with offices in Perth, Scotland. It was formed out of the International Curling Federation (ICF), when the push for Olympic Winter ...

(WCF) announced that the tournament had been cancelled, as permission to host an international sporting event had been withdrawn by local health authorities due to concerns surrounding

SARS-CoV-2 variants Variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are viruses that, while similar to the original, have genetic changes that are of enough significance to lead virologists to label them separately. SARS-CoV-2 is the v ...

. On 1 March 2021, it was reported that

had made a proposal to re-locate the event to

, using the same "

" that has been established for the World Men's Championship and all other major national championships this season. On 5 March, the WCF officially announced that the World Women's Championship would be re-located to Calgary, and rescheduled to 30 April—9 May 2021.

Positive tests, suspension of television coverage

Prior to the competition, two members of the German team tested positive for COVID-19. The team was barred from the first day of practice, 28 April. On 29 April, the WCF announced that the three remaining players on the German team would be allowed to continue to represent their country as a three-player team. On 2 May, several members of the host broadcast crew of the event tested positive for COVID-19, which resulted in the postponement of the morning draw in order to allow additional testing of players and staff. None of the players were among those who tested positive, while the broadcast staff had been based out of a different hotel than players. Play resumed with the afternoon session, but all television broadcasts from the tournament were suspended through at least the morning session on 7 May. The postponed matches were rescheduled to the evening session of 7 May. Due to further positive tests among members of the host broadcasting crew, World Curling extended the suspension of broadcasting through the afternoon of 7 May, with the hope that television broadcasting would resume in time for the playoff rounds. Television coverage ultimately resumed on the morning of May 7 with Alberta Health approving a proposal which minimal staff involvement for the remaining three days of the event.

Qualification

14 curling federations qualified to participate in the 2021 World Women's Curling Championship. This was the first World Women's Championship appearance for Estonia, who was represented by skip

Marie Turmann Marie Kaldvee (born 23 January 1995 as Marie Turmann) is an Estonian curler from Järveküla, Estonia. Career Juniors Turmann played for the Estonian team at the 2012 Youth Winter Olympics, playing third on the team, which finished in last p ...

. Pursuant to a December 2020 ruling by the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

due to the

Russian doping scandal Systematic doping of Russian athletes has resulted in 51 Olympic medals stripped from Russia (and Russian associated teams), four times the number of the next highest, and more than 30% of the global total. Russia has the most competitors who ...

, Russia is prohibited from competing under its flag or any national symbols at any Olympic Games or world championships through 16 December 2022, and therefore competed neutrally. The team is therefore representing the Russian Curling Federation (RCF).

World Ranking

The World Curling Federation World Ranking tracks and lists the success of all Member Associations.

Teams

The teams were as follows:

WCF ranking

Year to date

order of merit ranking for each team prior to the event. Rankings based on the 2019–20 season.

Round-robin standings

Round-robin results

All draw times are listed in

Mountain Daylight Time The Mountain Time Zone of North America keeps time by subtracting seven hours from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) when standard time ( UTC−07:00) is in effect, and by subtracting six hours during daylight saving time ( UTC−06:00). The ...

( UTC−06:00).

Draw 1

''Friday, 30 April, 9:00 am''

Draw 2

''Friday, 30 April, 2:00 pm''

Draw 3

''Friday, 30 April, 7:00 pm''

Draw 4

''Saturday, 1 May, 9:00 am''

Draw 5

''Saturday, 1 May, 2:00 pm''

Draw 6

''Saturday, 1 May, 7:00 pm''

Draw 8

''Sunday, 2 May, 2:30 pm''

Draw 9

''Sunday, 2 May, 7:30 pm''

Draw 10

''Monday, 3 May, 9:00 am''

Draw 11

''Monday, 3 May, 2:00 pm''

Draw 12

''Monday, 3 May, 7:00 pm''

Draw 13

''Tuesday, 4 May, 9:30 am''

Draw 14

''Tuesday, 4 May, 2:30 pm''

Draw 15

''Tuesday, 4 May, 7:30 pm''

Draw 16

''Wednesday, 5 May, 9:00 am''

Draw 17

''Wednesday, 5 May, 2:00 pm''

Draw 18

''Wednesday, 5 May, 7:00 pm''

Draw 19

''Thursday, 6 May, 9:00 am''

Draw 20

''Thursday, 6 May, 2:00 pm''

Draw 21

''Thursday, 6 May, 7:00 pm''

Draw 22

''Friday, 7 May, 9:00 am''

Draw 23

''Friday, 7 May, 2:00 pm''

Draw 7

''Friday, 7 May, 7:00 pm'' – originally scheduled for Sunday, 2 May, 9:00 am.

Playoffs

Qualification Games

''Saturday, 8 May, 9:00 am''

Semifinal 1

''Saturday, 8 May, 3:00 pm''

Semifinal 2

''Saturday, 8 May, 7:30 pm''

Bronze medal game

''Sunday, 9 May, 8:30 am''

Final

''Sunday, 9 May, 1:00 pm''

Statistics

Top 5 player percentages

''Final Round Robin Percentages''

Perfect games

''Minimum 10 shots thrown''

Notes

References

{{World championships in 2021 World Women's Curling Championship World Women's Championship Curling competitions in Calgary

Women's curling competitions in Canada

World Curling Championship The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and mixed doubles championships, as well as men's an ...

2021 in women's curling

World Curling Championships The World Curling Championships are the annual world championships for curling, organized by the World Curling Federation and contested by national championship teams. There are men's, women's and Doubles curling, mixed doubles championships, as ...

Sports events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Women's sports in Calgary