Einarson’s second Shannon Birchard on her game at world curling championship

CALGARY – Unsure a year ago whether her knee would let her curl again at a high level, representing Canada in another world championship feels sweet for Shannon Birchard.

Canada’s second posted 100 per cent shooting accuracy in Kerri Einarson’s 9-3 win over China on Sunday at Calgary’s WinSport Event Centre. 

Birchard’s hit and roll to the button, with sweeping help from teammate Karlee Burgess, set up a pivotal three points in the fifth end for a 6-2 lead.

Canada improved to 3-0, and also finished off the opposition quickly for a second game in a row. 

China’s Rui Wang shook hands after eight ends. The United States also conceded after eight the previous evening in Canada’s 11-3 victory.

“It’s just huge to build some momentum,” Birchard said. “We’re a team that sometimes gets our back against the wall early, and it’s not fun to play that way. It’s nice to get these wins under our belts and just feel the confidence.”

Canada takes on Denmark’s Madeleine Dupont on Monday afternoon in the 13-country event.

The top six teams at the end of pool play advance to playoffs. The top two get an express ticket to Saturday’s semifinals. The medal games are Sunday.

Japan joined Canada at 3-0 on Sunday with a 10-9 win in an extra end over Norway (0-3). Turkey got to 2-0 with a 5-3 victory over Scotland. Sweden (2-1) was a 9-4 winner over Italy (0-2). 

Australia, Denmark, South Korea and Switzerland were all 1-1 heading into the evening draw. China dropped to 1-2 and the U.S. was 0-2.

Birchard, a six-time Canadian champion, sat out the majority of 2024-25 with a knee injury. She tested her knee at an October training camp that season. It didn’t go well.

“Last year seems like a blur and it seems so far away, but when I put myself back to a year ago, there were so many question marks,” Birchard said. “I didn’t know if I was going to be able to come back at the capacity that I am.”

A happy complication, but a complication nevertheless, was Birchard was also expecting her first child.

“It just restricted me from intervening sooner with certain tests and having the scope sooner,” the 31-year-old said. “They wanted me to wait until I gave birth and that’s totally fair. 

“Once I realized that I wasn’t going to be coming back for the season, I was able to relax into my pregnancy a little bit more and enjoy it, take on the support role and really cheer hard for my team. I was so proud of what they were able to accomplish last season.”

After giving birth to Leighton, Birchard’s knee was scoped in July. She rebuilt her confidence ahead of November’s Olympic trials, where Einarson finished third.

“In the weeks leading up to the trials was when I felt the most confidence in my slide, my technical again,” Birchard said. “That was when things really started to jell and come together for me again and it’s just carried through to now.”

Birchard led all seconds in shooting percentage (92.8) after three games in Calgary.

“She adds so much to our team, like her sweeping, her shot making, her big weights, like the girls could barely keep up to them sometimes,” Einarson said. 

“She such an asset and such a great teammate and it was sad when she was off for a year. It was tough and so I’m happy to have her back.”

After claiming a bronze medal in last year’s world championship, Wang went 2-7 in February’s Milan Cortina Olympic Games.

The Chinese shuffled their lineup in Calgary with Wang switching to throwing third stones and vice Han Yu on fourth stones.

After sitting out China’s first two games with illness, second Ziqi Dong was replaced again by alternate Tingyu Su to start the third end.

Dong jamming a peel in the first end before she left the game allowed Canada to lie two. The hosts parlayed that mistake into a deuce to start the game.

China half-executed an angle raise in the sixth by removing Canada’s second shot stone, but left one for an Einarson steal and a 7-2 lead.

“Team Canada is really strong,” said Chinese coach Weidong Tan. “Everybody knows it’s the top team here. We tried to play our game and keep the score close.”

China’s lone women’s world curling title was won by Bingyu Wang in 2009.

Einarson, vice Val Sweeting and Birchard were bronze medallists in both 2022 and 2023. 

They and lead Burgess making her world championship debut seek their first world title.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2026.