Homan wins a spot in the playoffs

Rachel Homan kept the pedal down on the road to the playoffs, defeating Bingyu Wang of China 7-4 in the second-last game of round-robin play at the Titlis Glacier Mountain World Women’s Curling Championship 2013, presented by Ford Motor Company of Canada. With the win, Homan and her Ottawa team – Emma Miskew, Alison Kreviazuk and Lisa Weagle, with alternate Stephanie LeDrew and coach Earl Morris – have secured a spot in at least the tie-breakers. Scotland’s Eve Muirhead and Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson hold the top two spots with 9-1 records, with Canada in third at 7-3, followed by Russia’s Anna Sidorova at 6-4. Erika Brown of the U.S.A. (5-4) could squeak into the tie-breakers if the U.S. defeats Scotland in the final round-robin game, and if Canada loses, creating a three-way tie of teams with four losses. In the game against China, Canada looked confident in both ice and rocks – something that was lacking earlier in the week. After trading singles, Homan stole one in the third when Wang’s draw against two Canadian counters wrecked on a guard. It was all singles and blanks for the first eight ends as both teams missed opportunities to score multiple points, but after a take-out attempt by Homan in the ninth jammed, China scored two in the ninth to take a 4-3 lead. Canada bounced back in the tenth, taking advantage of a missed draw attempt by China to lie three. Wang was able to put a rock in the four-foot, but Homan calmly hit for the four points, and a 7-4 win. Team Canada plays Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa (4-5) its final round-robin game of the Titlis Glacier Mountain World Women’s Curling Championship 2013, presented by Ford Motor Company of Canada, Thursday at 7:30 a.m. EDT. All of Team Canada’s games are being broadcast by TSN/RDS, the official broadcast partner of the Season of Champions. Event news, live scores and galleries can be found on the event website: https://wwcc2013.curlingevents.com