Olympic Curling Trials: Setting Up the Women’s Semi

HALIFAX – The loudest applause of the week so far came with a made runback on Kaitlyn Lawes’ final stone against Kayla Skrlik. 

Lawes didn’t win over the audience during the round robin to become a fan favourite, nor did she reach the semifinal with her game-winning shot. The result ensured a trip to the semifinal for hometown hero Christina Black. As predicted (ahem), Lawes, Black and Sturmay all won their final games, creating a three-way tie for the last playoff entry, but the Last Stone Draw (LSD) rankings flipped after team throws just prior to 2:00 p.m. local time. 

The arena scoreboard showed the updated LSD results and Christina moved ahead of the other 3-3 teams to post the fourth ranked results. 

Sturmay slipped to seventh and Lawes dropped to eighth! 

Most of those in the building knew the outcome – should Kaitlyn make or miss – and eagerly waited to cheer. The dejected look on Selena’s face (video above) tells the result. 

Black is on to the semifinal to face Kerri Einarson. That’s the good news. The first mountain to reach the playoffs in the Canadian (Olympic) Curling Trials is a molehill compared to what comes next for Christina’s squad. 

Black is winless against Einarson in eight attempts with five of these victories since November 2024 and this version of Team Black, with Jill Brothers at third. This includes the 12-5 drubbing they took in Saturday’s opening draw. If they manage to win over a team that clearly has their number, they face Rachel Homan in a three-game playoff. 

Christina may be able to draw inspiration from an extra end win over Homan at the 2023 Scotties, but Rachel has soundly beaten her six times since, with a combined score of 50-21. 

Today, Team Black had a combined team percentage of 87% in a must-win game, with the skip firing a team-leading 89%. The result pulled up Black to rank fourth among skips, at 76%. 

Einarson, who ranks second in percentages, dropped to 82% after the loss to Homan, who sits at the top with 86%. Rachel has yet to dip below 80 this week.

No odds yet, but I’d speculate Black could be as much as +350. 

The games still must be played and Christina will be oh-fer against Kerri right up until she beats her the first time. It could be tomorrow. Underdogs, Team Black have nothing to lose and can play loose with none of the pressure Einarson might be carrying onto the ice. 

Black came up big this afternoon. From the critical Last Stone Draw to recovering from an early triple by Cameron and solid finish in front of the Halifax faithful, the squad knows how to compete. I’m excited to see what could happen.