U.S. WOMEN WIN SILVER AT WORLD SENIOR CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022
© WCF / Celine Stucki
Team USA, Margie Smith, Ann Swisshelm, Shelly Kosal, and Shelley Dropkin achieved a second place finish at the World Senior Curling Championships 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland.
On Apr. 23-30, 2022, the Team competed at Curling Club Trois-Chêne /Genève along with 12 other member association countries with senior women representatives.
Starting the Championship off strong with a commanding lead over England, the U.S. then fell to Finland and Switzerland before evening their record with a win against Lithuania.
In a must-win final round robin game against Latvia, the U.S. put their third win on record, punching their tickets to the playoffs.
The Smith-skipped rink faced Canada in a qualification game on day seven of competition.
In a game of only single scores, hammer management proved to be key. A stolen point in the third end put the U.S. ahead by one, a control that the American’s were able to keep a grasp on until the close of the game, when they scored a single point with hammer in the final end to top Canada 4-3 and advance to the semifinals.
In the semifinal matchup, the U.S. faced Finland once again.
After losing 8-4 to Finland in the round robin, Team USA knew it was going to take high-execution and teamwork to come out victorious in the semifinal, which is exactly what they did.
Team USA forced Finland to one point in the first end before jumping ahead 4-2 at the close of the first half.
In the second half, the U.S. forced Finland to only singles while scoring deuces when it was their turn with hammer. The pressure brought by Team USA resulted in an 8-4 victory and advancement to the Gold Medal Game.
On April 30th, Team USA played Switzerland for gold.
The U.S. started strong without hammer, stealing singles in the first two ends to lead 2-0, however, the host country of Switzerland was quick to rebound, scoring one in the third and stealing two in the fourth to lead 3-2.
After a blanked fifth end, the Swiss were first on the board in the second half, stealing another point in the sixth to lead 4-2.
Team USA rebounded, putting up three points in the seventh end to lead 5-4.
It was Switzerland with hammer in the eighth end, and a score of two resulted in a 6-5 final, earning silver for the United States.
The World Senior Curling Championships 2022 were two years of excitement coming to fruition for Margie Smith, Ann Swisshelm, Shelly Kosal, and Shelley Dropkin.
With the world championship being cancelled due to Covid after their first National Championship title, the foursome stuck together to win back-to-back national titles and make a much-anticipated run at the World Senior Curling Championships, a run that earned Team USA a spot on the podium.
USA Curling is sponsored by Columbia Sportswear, Toyota, Twin Cities Orthopedics, Training HAUS, Brakebush, ISS (Ice, Sports & Solar), and Sitrin, and is partnered with IHG, Rock Solid Productions Inc., Laurie Artiss Ltd. – The Pin People.
