NISKU, Alta. — Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan became the first to punch a playoff ticket at the Co-op Canadian Open after rolling past Winnipeg’s Team Chelsea Carey 9-3 Thursday morning at the Silent Ice Center.
Homan qualified for the playoffs undefeated at 3-0 with one more round-robin game to go Friday.
The 15-time Grand Slam title winner and defending champion got out to a great start scoring three in the second.
After Carey counted a single in the third, Homan took two in the fourth and stole one in the fifth to hold a commanding 6-1 advantage.
Carey (2-1) cut the deficit down with a deuce in the sixth, however, it was handshakes after Homan counted three more points in the seventh.
Meanwhile, Canada’s Team Kerri Einarson got back on track stealing two in the fourth and scoring five in the sixth during a 9-1 rout over Japan’s Team Momoha Tabata.
Einarson, from Gimli, Man., improved to a 2-1 record. Tabata (0-3) has been eliminated from playoff contention in her team’s top-tier Grand Slam debut.
Canada’s Team Selena Sturmay picked up a first win in the tournament with a 10-4 victory over Sweden’s Team Isabella Wranå.
Sturmay, from Edmonton, scored three sets of deuces and capped the game with a count of four in the seventh. Both teams hold 1-2 records.
South Korea’s Team Eun-jung Kim (2-1) earned a 7-3 win over Japan’s Team Sayaka Yoshimura (1-2).
UP NEXT
Three more draws are on tap later Thursday. Round-robin play resumes at 2 p.m. ET / noon MT with broadcast coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
NOTES
The Co-op Canadian Open is the second Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday evening. The top eight teams advance to the playoffs. If necessary, one tiebreaker draw will be played Saturday morning. … The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday with both finals on tap Sunday.
