Canada has missed the playoffs for the first time in 20 years at the world women’s curling championship.
Chelsea Carey’s Calgary-based rink (5-6) was officially eliminated in the penultimate round-robin draw on Friday when Japan beat China and Germany lost to Finland.
Those results put an end to Canada’s faint hope of earning the sixth and final playoff spot in the 13-team event before Carey’s final round-robin game against Denmark on Friday afternoon.
Canada had won the last two world championships, with Ottawa’s Rachel Homan in 2017 and Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones in 2018 running the table en route to a gold medal.
Carey’s chances to advance were all but done after a 5-3 loss to reigning Olympic champion Anna Hasselborg of Sweden in the morning draw.
Two misses loomed large for Carey, third Sarah Wilkes, second Dana Ferguson and lead Rachel Brown.
In the seventh, Ferguson’s takeout just rubbed on a guard, leading to a go-ahead deuce for Sweden.
In the eighth, Carey’s hit-and-roll went inches too far and was second shot, forcing her to draw for one instead of scoring a possible deuce.
The last time Canada missed the playoffs was 1999 when Colleen Jones (4-5) finished in a three-way tie for fifth place in Saint John, N.B.
The top four teams in the 10-team event made the playoffs under the format used 20 years ago.
Hasselborg has clinched first place in this year’s event.
Russia’s Alina Kovaleva (9-3) was second entering the final round-robin draw.
The top two teams get quarterfinal byes.
The playoffs start Saturday, with the medal games going on Sunday.
The Canadian Press
