By Jonathan Brazeau
VICTORIA — Kerri Einarson said that reaching a Grand Slam of Curling women's final always feels amazing.
She knows that feeling all too well.
Einarson advanced to her 18th career Grand Slam final after her Gimli, Man., club defeated South Korea's Team Eun-ji Gim 8-4 in Saturday's semifinals at the Co-op Invitational.
"It's always nice to start off the Grand Slam season getting to the final," said Einarson, who has won six titles in the series. "It's hard and a great competition out here, so you know you’ve got to play your best every game."
While Einarson advanced to her 18th final in the series, she faces a team that's playing in its first.
South Korea's Team Bo-bae Kang, skipped by Kyeong-ae Kim, made it through after fending off Switzerland's Team Xenia Schwaller 7-6 in an extra end.
Einarson expects her Grand Slam finals experience will give her the advantage.
"I think we’ve just got to put some pressure on them," she said. "We've been here before. We've done this a few times, so yeah, just use our experience."
It was looking like we could have our first all-Korean Grand Slam final, with Gim holding the hammer to start and converting for a deuce in the opening end. The teams alternated pairs of points in the second and third as Gim maintained the advantage, leading 4-2.
Einarson counted a couple of points in the fourth to tie it; however, with the two in her pocket, her last rock chipped and rolled through the rings, missing out on a third point to her tally that would have given her the lead.
Nevertheless, the one that got away came back and then some over the following three ends, as Einarson completed the "Rush" linescore of 2-1-1-2 to close out the game.
Einarson stole the go-ahead point in the fifth, then added another for insurance in the sixth on a tight measure near the pinhole that looked as if it would be impossible to tell apart.
Team Gim fourth Min-ji Kim's struggles continued into the seventh, with a steal of two putting the match out of reach.
"We made some really clutch shots when we needed to," Einarson said. "All of us did, and we just put some pressure on them in the last half.
"I was mad at myself for missing the draw for three and just told the girls, ‘Stay with me, and I'll make them when we need to,’ and sure enough we did."
Einarson wasted little time overhauling her roster for the new Olympic cycle, parting ways with third Val Sweeting, alternate Krysten Karwacki and coach Reid Carruthers just days after earning silver at the season-ending World Women's Curling Championship. Shannon Birchard and Karlee Burgess moved up to third and second, respectively, with two-time Olympian Jocelyn Peterman joining at lead and vice skip.
The world No. 5 team played three tour events with three quarterfinal finishes ahead of the season's first Grand Slam event.
"Everyone's still learning their positions and figuring things out," Einarson said, "but we're having a lot of fun out there."
Over on the adjacent sheet, Team Kang looked to be in control after scoring three in the fifth and limiting Schwaller to a single in the sixth to hold a 6-3 advantage with the hammer, but looks can be deceiving.
The reigning world champion Schwaller battled back, stealing one in the seventh and two in the eighth, as Kyeong-ae Kim just needed to eliminate the shot rock but grazed it on the way through the house.
Still, Kim held the hammer once more and made no mistake getting the job done in the extra end.
Kim was the longtime third for Eun-jung Kim, part of the famous "Garlic Girls" squad that captured a silver medal on home ice at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. She joined Team Kang this season at third, but is now skipping the squad, as Kang focuses on mixed doubles after winning the national title.
Team Kang earned its spot in the Co-op Invitational through the new Satellite Events series. After the GSOC competition committee selected the first 12 men's and 12 women's teams, qualifying tournaments determined the final four spots in both divisions. Team Kang received a ticket with a runner-up finish in last month's Karuizawa International, as champion Team Isabella Wranå had already been selected.
Watch the Co-op Invitational women's final live Sunday on CBC, CBC Gem, Sportsnet+, ESPN+, DAZN or Rock Channel at 3 p.m. ET / Noon PT.
