NISKU, Alta. — Rachel Homan was all smiles following her victory Wednesday during Draw 7 of the Co-op Canadian Open.
Homan’s Ottawa-based team edged Edmonton’s Team Selena Sturmay 4-3 to climb to a 2-0 record in round-robin play.
The event is extra special for Homan, who lives nearby in Beaumont, and helped bring the event to the Silent Ice Center by putting the venue on the Grand Slam of Curling’s radar.
“There’s tons of people here and I think the community is loving it,” Homan said. “It’s just great to finally see it happening and it’s awesome to be a part of.”
It was a tight back-and-forth battle between the Canadian clubs as neither team scored more than a single point at a time.
Sturmay opened with the hammer but had to settle for one in the first. The 15-time Grand Slam champion Homan drew for the tying point in the second and pulled ahead 2-1 in the fourth with a great draw into the pocket that held up for a steal as Sturmay misfired her last sending a guard sideways.
With Homan sitting three in the fifth, Sturmay drew to knot it back up.
The teams alternated singles again in six and seven as Homan held the hammer coming home and needed to draw for the winning point.
“It was really important to get that second win,” Homan said. “Thankfully, we just made enough shots there in the end. They played really well.”
Homan credited sweepers Sarah Wilkes and Emma Miskew for making the final shot count.
“I definitely need to throw it better for the sweepers,” she said. “Just take that and learn from it.”
Winnipeg’s Team Chelsea Carey also climbed to a 2-0 record with a 9-2 rout over Team Isabella Wranå of Sweden. Carey broke a 2-all tie with a count of three in the fourth and stole four in the fifth to put the game out of reach.
Japan’s Team Sayaka Yoshimura scored three in the eighth end to beat Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., 6-4.
South Korea’s Team Eun-jung Kim stole one in the eighth plus the winning point in the extra end to swipe a 6-5 decision against Japan’s Team Momoha Tabata.
Wranå, Yoshimura, Einarson and Kim all have 1-1 records. Tabata and Sturmay dropped to 0-2 and must win their next games to remain in contention.
UP NEXT
Round-robin play continues with Draw 8 at 10 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. MT.
Coverage on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ begins Thursday at 2 p.m. ET / noon MT.
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.
