#Beijing2022 Women's Team Preview

 #BetweenTheRings: Women's Team Preview

Strongest international field EVER?!?

In the Mixed Doubles Preview post, the opening question asked "Do you have the Olympic spirit?"

After watching the mixed doubles competition for the past 7 days, the answer should be a resounding "YES!"

Mixed doubles kicked off the 2022 Winter Olympics the exact way we expected.

We had great shots.

We had shocking misses.

We had drama.

We had celebration.

We had heartbreak.

Who needs to stream a show on Netflix or Prime right now when the Olympics can bring you everything you need to get your entertainment fix.

I don't know why you gagging? They bring it to you every four years!

With mixed doubles handing out the hardware, the spotlight shifts to the Teams competition.

But before we look ahead, we must celebrate how we got here. From the women's team competition making its debut in 1998 to Sweden ascending to the top of the overall throne in 2018.

Here is your quick Olympic women's curling history, I mean #HERstory, lesson:

• Women made their Olympic curling debut in Nagano, Japan in 1998 when the sport was re-added to the Winter Olympics roster, joining the slate of events equal to the men.  The amount of teams qualified and the format used have consistently been equal between the men and women under the Olympic rings since 1998.  One of the few sports who continue to provide equality from the first rock thrown!
• In the seven iterations of this event (including 2022) there have been six nations who have qualified for every Winter Olympic field.  Those nations include: Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, Japan, Sweden, USA.  Many may be surprised (again?!) to see Denmark qualifying every four years, a testament to the staying power of Danish elite athletes even when some may say the country has struggled at times to #growthesport back home.  Curling fans may also be surprised to not see Switzerland listed.  The Swiss have qualified in 6 Winter Olympics with their only miss being the inaugural year of 1998.
• So which nation leads the way in gold medal performances? Heading into PyeongChang in 2018, it was a tie between Canada (1998, 2014) and Sweden (2006, 2010).  When Sweden's Team Hasselborg stood atop the podium, they also cemented Sweden's legacy as the top women's Olympic curling nation (for now?).  Great Britain (2002) is the only other nation to land at the top of the podium.  Sweden is also the only nation to repeat as gold medal winners. Can they do it again in 2022 with the same team who struck gold in 2018?
• Overall, Canada and Sweden have landed on the podium 5 times at the Winter Olympics.  Besides the two gold medals for Canada, the curling crazed nation has claimed one silver (2010) and two bronze (2002, 2006).  Sweden moved into a tie with Canada for overall medals with the gold medal win in 2018, alongside one silver (2014) and one bronze (1998).  Great Britain and Switzerland each have two podium finishes with #TeamGB winning gold and bronze (2014) and #HoppSchwiiz taking home back-to-back silver medals (2002, 2006). 
• Other nations to land on the podium include: Denmark (Silver - 1998), China (Bronze - 2010), South Korea (Silver - 2018) and Japan (Bronze - 2018).
• Host nation China will be making their 4th consecutive appearance in the Winter Olympic field, after debuting with the bronze medal win in Vancouver.  Overall 13 nations have been collectively represented at least once in the Olympic women's team curling field.  Outside Italy with one appearance (as host in 2006), every other nation has made multiple appearances. Other nations who have competed in the past but failed to qualify for Beijing include Norway (3 appearances, last being 2006) and Germany (3 appearances, last being 2010).
• Some of the greatest female names in the sport also be called Olympians.  A few of those names include: Sandra Schmirler (Canada, 1998), Andrea Schopp (Germany, 1998/2010), Dordi Norby (Norway, 1998/2002/2006), Elisabet Gustafson (Sweden, 1998/2002), Mirjam Ott (Switzerland, 2002/2006/2010/2014),  Anette Norberg (Sweden, 2006/2010) and Jennifer Jones (Canada, 2014, 2022).
• Take note, the 2022 field consists of the same nations who qualified in 2018 and include 7 returning skips/teams. The only nations in the 2022 field with a completely different representative from 2018 are Canada, China and ROC.

But enough of the history lesson. Time to enter the #IceCube and break down the competition.

Take note, the Power Rankings below are based on the current World Curling Federation Women's World Rankings. The ranking number in parenthesis is the current world ranking of the team representing the nation.

#TwineTimePreview

Women's Team

Beijing National Aquatics Centre

Beijing, China

Competition Schedule: February 10 - 20, 2022

2018 Champion: Sweden

Format: 10 team RR with Top 4 advancing to playoffs with 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 SF matches.

#PowerRankings

1. Sweden (Team Hasselborg - #2)

The #SwedishVikings are back to #DefendTheIce in Beijing.

PyeongChang was a breakout performance for Team Hasselborg. Since their 2018 triumph they have added world championship silver medals (2018, 2019) and European gold (2019) and silver (2021).

Not to mention the 4 #GSOC titles.

The team is 29-16 on the season, posting a 6-6 record vs. the competition.

Hasselborg does own career H2H advantages vs. the majority of her competition with only Jennifer Jones (8-11) and Silvana Tirinzoni (22-24) owning a better overall record.

However, since the 2019/20 season Hasselborg is 6-5 vs. Tirinzoni and 4-0 vs. Jones. 

Sofia Mabergs will be with the team in Beijing after a small scare with a positive COVID test prior to departing for the Olympics.

How battle-tested and in-game ready the team is will be another story.

Remember the team did suffer a tough loss at the 2021 European Championships, losing the final to friends/rivals Team Muirhead.

Sure you cannot win them all but we know how important #ECC is to this team. Could it be a motivator here?

Perhaps a sense of deja vu? Remember the 2017 European Championships right before the 2018 Winter Olympics?

Hasselborg entered the Euro final undefeated and lost. To whom? Eve Muirhead. Look what happened next!

Is there any reason to bet against the champs?

They will be chasing #HERstory as well in trying to become the 2nd team to go back-to-back on Olympic ice after fellow Swedish legend Anette Norberg.

Keys To Success: Close Games - Expect close games out of this team. This season they have averaged around 7 points for per game while allowing close to 6 points per game. The stat may be eyebrow raising but also shows this team is comfortable playing close games and has no problem going down to last rock dramatics to pick up a W.

2. Switzerland (Team Tirinzoni - #8)

Silvana Tirinzoni may step into the #IceCube looking for some redemption from 2018.

She finished the RR with a 4-5 record 4 years ago, one game out of a possible playoff spot.

What has she done since?

Only win back-to-back world championships (2019, 2021) and a bronze at the European championships (2019).

She also won a slam title right after PyeongChang (2019 Champions Cup) and reached another slam final and 3 slam SFs.

This season the team owns a strong 24-10 record, including 8-7 vs. the competition.

Career H2H comparisons have Tirinzoni on top against the majority of the field, only Jennifer Jones (6-21) and Eve Muirhead (14-20) have the advantage.

Want a surprising fact?

Tirinzoni owns a 10-2 all-time advantage over Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa and is 8-2 vs. ROC's Alina Kovaleva, including winning the past 7 straight meetings.

Switzerland has not been on the podium since winning silver in 2006. The nation lost back-to-back bronze medals games in 2010 and 2014.

This is a battle tested team who is ready to put Swiss women's curling on top of the Olympic podium for the first time.

Keys To Success: #StealPants - Team Tirinzoni has not been known to steal often, sitting with a modest 0.27 steal efficiency this season, near the bottom of the field. We also saw this become an issue in 2018 where the team only stole 7 ends, compared to the medal teams stealing 13 (Sweden), 15 (South Korea) and 13 (Japan) respectively.

3. South Korea (Team E. Kim - #7)

The #TeamUpset darlings of the 2018 games on home ice, Team Kim went through anything but glory following their silver medal win.

The infamous coaching scandal rocked the team, and the curling world, following the 2018 world championships.

The "Garlic Girls" should have been a team on the rise and ready to become a world power.

Instead they were overcoming tough personal battles as a result of a verbally abusive vice president and seeing winnings being taken away from them.

But that is all in the past and Team Kim is back on Olympic ice ready to earn their redemption, in more ways than one.

The team is 43-16 on the season. They have played A LOT of games, in part to winning silver at the 2021 #PACC and competing in the Olympic Qualification Event.

They sit .500 on the season vs. the competition with a 5-5 record.

They were one of the final teams to qualify for Beijing, having survived the tough #OQE in December 2021.

Now they are here and the competition better watch out.

Don't let those smiles and "owl glasses" fool you. This team is ready to dominate the competition, with smiles on their faces of course.

Keys To Success: No Big Ends Against - This is a team who does not give up many points during a game. They are averaging 5.80 points against per game this season, the third best in the field.

4. ROC (Team Kovaleva - #11)

One of only two debut skips in the field, do not let the lack of Olympic experience tell you Alina Kovaleva and company are not podium threats.

This team will arrive in the #IceCube fresh off a silver medal finish at the 2021 World Championships, alongside a SF finish at the 2021 Masters and QF result at the 2021 National.

Team Kovaleva is 23-12 on the season, owning a 7-5 record vs. the competition. Kovaleva owns impressive career H2H records against Jennifer Jones (5-1), Satsuki Fujisawa (5-1) and Madeleine Dupont (7-0).

Russia / Russia Olympic Committee / Olympic Athletes from Russia have placed 9th at the past 3 Winter Olympics. The best result for the nation was 6th in 2006.

The biggest battle for Kovaleva might be consistency. One game they look like world champions. The next they struggle.

They had a great showing at the 2021 Euro's only to lose the SF and bronze medal games to finish 4th.

They played great at the 2021 world championships, reaching the final before coming up short vs. Switzerland.

However, do not count them out either. They are a good RR team. But can they get it together in the playoffs?

Kovaleva may be the "under the radar" dark horse SF pick here.

Keys To Success: Force Efficiency - They have the second highest force efficiency of the field this season, coming in with 0.67. If they can use that game plan to their advantage in Beijing, watch out. 

5. Canada (Team Jones - #3)

Jennifer Jones has been here before. She won Olympic gold in 2014, going undefeated along the way.

By many, she is the GOAT of the sport. A 6-time Scotties champ. A 2-time world champ. An Olympic champ. A 9-time #GSOC champ.

What is there left to accomplish? How about becoming only the second skip to win 2 Olympic gold medals, joining Sweden's Anette Norberg?

And what about vice Kaitlyn Lawes? She will be chasing #HERstory of her own in trying to win her 3rd straight Olympic gold medal after picking up the Team gold in 2014 and Mixed Doubles in 2018.

We saw Sweden's Oskar Eriksson make #HIStory becoming the 1st curler to win 3 Olympic medals. Can Lawes go one better in tying his record BUT also making each of those medals golden?

Jones owns a 32-15 overall record this season but only 2-5 vs. the competition.

ROC (1-5) and USA (1-2) own career H2H advantages over Jones with Denmark sitting with an even 1-1 record (last meeting in 2018 though).

If Jones can turn back the clock to 2014 and rekindle the magic (and some luck) she found at the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials, watch out folks!

Keys To Success: Experience - Seems obvious but the team needs to draw on their experience being here, especially with second Jocelyn Peterman making her Olympics debut. Jones and Lawes have seen pretty much everything the sport can throw at them. And we know Jones is at her best when her back is against the wall and the pressure is on.

6. USA (Team Peterson - #9)

Looking for a trendy #TeamUpset podium pick to wow your friends? Say hello to USA's Team Peterson.

We saw this team at the 2018 games, finishing with a 4-5 record just outside the playoff cut line.

The line up will be slightly different with Tara Peterson playing lead, Rebecca Hamilton moving to second, Tabitha Peterson and Nina Roth swapping back end position and Aileen Grieving now the alternate.

Sounds like a lot of line-up changes but the changes have worked for this team over the past few seasons and they are stronger than ever.

They are an impressive 32-7 on the season, the second fewest losses in the field. They have not played a ton of game against the field, sporting a balanced 3-3 record.

However the stats really only take into account games since the 2019 season when this new formation emerged. Overall, the only team with a dominated record against Team USA is Japan (1-3).

USA has never landed on the podium in the women's team event, with a best result being 4th in 2002 on home ice. They have finished 10th, 10th and 8th in the past 3 Winter Olympics.

Do not be surprised to see a stronger showing from them here and make a podium push.

Keys To Success: Points, Points, Points - This team is averaging 9.62 points for per game. Scoring close to 10 points, on average, every game will result in more wins than losses. If they can continue to put up big point ends when they have hammer, they should score some big wins as well. In 2018 they were one of the lowest scoring teams. They seem to have found their offense heading into 2022.

7. Japan (Team Fujisawa - #5)

The 2018 bronze medal winners are back and looking for revenge.

They lost the 2018 SF to #PACC rival on their home ice.

Now they head into rival territory once again, this time China for 2022.

This is a fan friendly team though. Always smiling. Always high-fiving. Always enjoying the sport.

They sport a 28-12 record this season and are 3-5 vs. the competition.

Shockingly they only own a career H2H advantage over 1 team in the field (USA, 3-1).

Every other team in the field owns the career H2H over Team Fujisawa.

More surprising facts?

Team Fujisawa has not played at a world championship since 2016 nor a #PACC since 2018.

Whaaaaaa??? How is that even possible??

To their credit, they were slotted to represent Japan at the 2020 world championship but it was cancelled due to COVID.

The team has not had a ton of international experience since 2018. It is very surprising.

But they do play a ton of tour events, including a regular fixture in the #GSOC fields.

They earned their #5 world ranking.

Will the lack of international competitive ice time hinder their success though?

To their credit, they did survive the #OQE to punch their ticket into this field.

Keys To Success: Steal Defense - Good luck trying to pick their pockets. They have the best steal defense in the field, a whopping 0.13. You have a better chance of scoring multiple points per end against them than you do stealing. Their force efficiency is tied for last in the field (0.51 with Canada) but their steal defense is the best. Teams may want to know those stats heading into the final ends of close games.

8. Great Britain (Team Muirhead - #4)

Speaking of the #OQE, Great Britain's Team Muirhead also battled through the competing in the Netherlands to qualify for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

A bit of a shocker they needed to take the long road here, after missing the playoffs at the 2021 world championship.

We saw #TeamGB Olympic Committee playing around with line-ups earlier this season, trying to find the best and strongest squad to contest for an Olympic medal.

When the rocks stopped spinning, Eve Muirhead was back skipping with vice Vicky Wright, second Jennifer Dodds and lead Hailey Duff.

Wright, Dodds and Duff will be making their Olympics debut in Beijing but will have 4-time Olympic rep Muirhead helping guide them through the experience.

The GB flag bearer has a remarkable resume. 4 Olympics? Amazing!! She has competed at every Olympics since 2010. However, in that time, she has picked up only 1 medal (Bronze - 2014).

In 2018, Muirhead lost the bronze medal game to Japan. She will also be looking for some revenge and redemption inside the #IceCube.

This season Muirhead is 32-5, very impressive. The team owns a 9-4 record vs. the competition.

If we go on stats alone, Muirhead should be considered the gold medal favourite. After all, they are the current European champions.

Besides Jennifer Jones owning a career H2H record vs. Muirhead (14-28), it may be surprising to learn Korea's Eunjung Kim is an impressive 10-4 career-wise vs. the Scot.

Team GB may have an ace in their pocket. Dodds in the only female competing in both mixed doubles and team competition. She has been on the Olympic ice for the past week, chasing a podium with partner Bruce Mouat and ultimately finishing just off the podium in 4th place.

She has played on all the sheets. She will not be "distracted" by the experience as a "rookie" anymore.

If they can draw on her experience over the past 7 days, it could help them get off to a fast start.

Plus you can bet she is hungry for redemption of her own in coming so close to the podium.

Keys To Success: Points Against - This season the team has averaged only 4.88 points against per game, the best in the field. And the comparison is not even close. The next best team in this category is USA at 5.74, almost a whole point better. They are not giving up the big ends. We saw this in PyeongChang as well, with Muirhead only giving up 3+ points in an end twice (China, Japan).

9. China (Team Han - #76)

The unknown, of sorts, in the field? Perhaps but don't underestimate them either.

The home nation will be skipped by Han Yu, who is only 21 years old and a few years removed from juniors.

Han represented China at the 2019 world junior championships, finishing the RR with an 8-1 record before losing the SF and bronze medal games to finish 4th overall.

She also won the 2019 #PACC and represented China at the 2021 world championship. At the world championship, the team finished 6-7, missing the playoffs and finishing 10th overall.

The wildcard factor for Han is the unknown.

Sure the team will be making their Olympics debut, on home ice, at a young age BUT the opposition may not be as familiar with them either.

The Chinese team should have no problem being able to scout the opposition, seeing as the majority competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics and other major events over the past few seasons.

And they did knock off Sweden (Hasselborg) and Great Britain (Muirhead) at the 2021 world championship.

Keys To Success: Home Ice Advantage - We saw how this worked out for Korea's Team Kim in PyeongChang. Can lightning strike twice on Olympic ice for the home nation? The 2021 world championship experience can help them, knowing they can compete (and defeat) the higher ranked opposition. Now if they can build confidence on top of feeding off the energy of the crowd in their games, they could surprise a few people.

10. Denmark (Team Dupont - #41)

The Danes are back! As noted above, Denmark has qualified for every women's team Olympic field since the disciplines debut in 1998. Amazing!

The best result was a silver medal win in 1998. Since then Denmark has finished 9th, 9th, 5th, 6th and 10th.

Skipped Madeleine Dupont has led the Danish contingent onto the Olympic ice in 2010 and 2018. She will make her 3rd Olympics appearance and was awarded for it as Denmark's flag bearer in the 2022 Opening Ceremony.

Denmark punched their ticket into this field with their #TeamUpset result at the 2021 world championship. The team went 8-5 in the RR, including victories over China, Scotland (Great Britain), Korea and USA.

The team is a modest 16-11 on the season, including 0-5 vs. the opposition. Of course 4 of those losses came at #ECC2021 to Sweden, Scotland, (Great Britain), ROC and Switzerland.

This team may be the ultimate #TeamUpset once again in this field but look what happened at the world championships. They have the belief they can beat anyone and that confidence can sometimes be all you need to succeed.

Keys To Success: Dupont Sisters - Madeleine and Denise will need to be on top of their game as skip and second while also mentoring their young teammates. Vice Mathilde Halse and lead My Larsen are only 22 years old. Actually Larsen will celebrate her 23rd birthday right before the competition hits the ice on February 9 (Happy Birthday!!). In fact alternate Jasmin Lander just turned 22 on February 4. This is a young team around the Dupont sisters. They will need to be leaders on and off the ice for this team to have success. Luckily both have a ton of international experience and can be the perfect mentors.

#TwineTimePredictions

#W2W4

These are the Top 10 nations in the world and 8 of the Top 11 teams, according to both world rankings.

To say this field is stacked would be an understatement.

These are not just top nations/teams competing here. This field is also stacked with Olympic experience.

We have 2 gold medal winners. In fact, the past 2 Olympic gold medal skips in Jennifer Jones (2014) and Anna Hasselborg (2018).

We have the full podium of 2018 returning with Sweden, Korea and Japan.

We have a 2014 Olympic bronze medal winner (Eve Muirhead).

Not to mention the numerous World, European and Pacific-Asia champions and podium finishers.

We saw how competitive the mixed doubles competition was. Should we expect an even more difficult path to the playoffs for the women's competition?

To say a team will go undefeated in the RR would be a mistake. Sure, it could happen. But I wouldn't want to place bets on it.

The last team to go undefeated at the Olympics was Canada's Jennifer Jones in 2014. Hmmm, she is back again. Yet to take an Olympics loss. Interesting?!?!

On the flip side, look what Italy did in mixed doubles. Should we expect the unexpected here as well?

#HERstory has taught us a 5-4 record is the required cut-off point to qualify for the playoffs.

In 2018 and 2014, a 5-4 record was enough to lock down a Top 4 finish.

If you are watching the scoreboard and the schedule for your favourite team, keep your eyes on the "L" column. Should your fav nation/team drop to the 4 losses mark....well as Samuel L. Jackson said "hold on to your butts!"

It is safe to say any team can beat any other team in this competition.

Buckle. Up. Buttercup.

Projected Standings

1. ROC  2. Sweden  3. Great Britain  4. Switzerland  5. Japan  6. Canada  7. Korea  8. USA  9. Denmark  10. China

Qualifiers

ROC, Sweden, Great Britain, Switzerland


Semifinals

Switzerland def. ROC

Great Britain def. Sweden


Bronze Medal

Sweden (Team Hasselborg) def. ROC (Team Kovaleva)

#Beijing2022 GOLD MEDAL

Switzerland (Team Tirinzoni) def. Great Britain (Team Muirhead)

#TwineTime Medal Picks

Gold - Switzerland

Silver -  Great Britain

Bronze -  Sweden

What say you rockheads? Agree? Disagree?

The MD Preview saw some strong predictions, correctly tabbing 3 of the 4 playoff teams.

Will we see a surprise qualifier and/or medal winner, similar to the remarkable showing from the Italians in mixed doubles?

Who do YOU think will land on the podium in Beijing? Take home the gold medal?

ICYMI, the #Beijing2022 Men's Team Preview blog post can be found HERE.

To the athletes competing in Beijing, good luck and good curling...the Olympic ice is yours!

And to all the fans of the sport watching from home, enjoy, have fun, stay safe and be nice to one another.