CURLING Preview: Hasselborg the favorite at 2019 Women’s World Championship in Denmark?

Sweden's Olympic Champion Anna Hasselborg

The 40th edition of the World Curling Federation’s world championship for women starts on Saturday in Silkeborg (DEN) and runs through the 24th of March, with Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg looking to claim her first world title after claiming an Olympic gold medal in 2018.

A total of 13 teams have qualified for the event and will play each other in a round-robin through 22 March, with the playoffs on 23 and 24 March. The top two teams will advance to the semifinals and the third-ranked and sixth-ranked teams, and the fourth- and fifth-ranked teams will play each other to advance into the semis.

In terms of depth, only five of the 13 teams are world-ranked in the top 20:

● 2: Sweden (Anna Hasselborg, skip)
● 4. Switzerland (Silvana Tirinzoni)
● 6: Canada (Chelsea Clarey)
● 11: Russia (Alina Kovaleva)
● 14: South Korea (Min-Ji Kim)

Hasselborg won at PyeongChang and was the 2018 Worlds runner-up to Canada’s Jennifer Jones. Canada’s Carey has the burden of being the skip of the only Canadian team not to win a Worlds medal in the past eight tournaments: she skipped the 2016 team that finished fourth.

Tirinzoni’s Swiss squad includes Alina Paetz as Fourth (and Vice-Skip); she was the skip on the 2015 World Champions; another member of that team – Marisa Winkelhausen – is the alternate.

The U.S. entry is led by Jamie Sinclair, ranked 36th in the WCF Order of Merit and the 2017-18-19 U.S. champions. Her rink finished fourth in the 2018 Worlds after finishing second in the U.S. Olympic Trials and missing qualifying for the Games.

Look for scores and standings here.