Team Canada gears up for big matchups in BTK Tires world women’s championship

It’s been a solid week for Team Canada at the 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship in Sydney, N.S., with plenty of hard-fought wins. Now, that intensity is about to kick into high gear.

The Canadians, skipped by Rachel Homan, kept their slate clean Monday afternoon after an eight-end, 9-4 victory over skip Marianne Roervik’s Team Norway (1-3) to push their round-robin record to 4-0.

That lifted Team Homan into a first-place tie with idle Team Switzerland (4-0) and Team Italy (4-0), which also won its game Monday afternoon.

But now the plot thickens. The Canadians will play the Italians and Swiss in back-to-back games on Tuesday at Centre 200, and the results in those two games could decide their fate in the 13-team sports derby. Only six teams make the playoffs, so every game carries a lot of weight.

“They’re two phenomenal teams and we know we will have to bring the same, or more, tomorrow,” said Homan, who is supported by vice-skip Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew, lead Sarah Wilkes, alternate Rachel Brown and coached by Don Bartlett and national coach Viktor Kjell, from the Ottawa Curling Club. “I know they’re going to bring their A games, and we’re going to have to do the same.”

It’s hard not to look ahead with delicious anticipation to Tuesday’s evening match with defending champions Team Switzerland, skipped by Silvana Tirinzoni. It sets up a possible meeting of undefeated teams sporting amazing winning streaks. The Swiss have won 40 straight world women’s games heading into Monday’s evening game against Team Japan, while Team Homan will be on a 20-game heater entering its Tuesday morning match against Team Italy. The win streak includes games won in Grand Slam, Scotties Tournament of Hearts and world competition.

The good news for the Canadians is their skip keeps making the big shots when needed. That continued against the Norwegians Monday as Homan shot a blistering 94 per cent over eight ends.

Homan stood out in the fourth and sixth ends when she came through with pressure shots. In the fourth end it was a cold draw to the side of the four-foot to get her deuce. Two ends later, with Team Canada in some trouble, she manufactured a ‘skip’s deuce’ by clearing out things with a run-double with her first shot that flipped the end around in Canada’s favour.

Homan agreed the six-end shot was huge.

“Really well swept,” she said. “Tracy’s reading the line really good and called a good one there. Definitely a huge shot we needed to make sure we scored because it was looking like a steal for a while there.

“We’re all making a ton of big shots. It’s been going really good this week and hopefully can continue.”

Miskew said Homan has been “in a zone” all season.

“(She’s) working really hard and it’s showing. The difference this year is we’re all throwing the rock very similar so she knows exactly how she has to throw her stones and trust what we tell her to make every shot. She’ll make anything out there.”

The Italians, skipped by Stefania Constantini, kept pace with the Canadians with a 10-3 win over Team United States (2-3), skipped by Tabitha Peterson.

Team Switzerland had the bye after needing a last-rock victory over Team Turkey to keep its win streak alive in the morning. Tirinzoni and last-rock shooter Alina Paetz are looking to become the first women to win five consecutive world titles.

Team South Korea (3-1), skipped by Eunji Gim, justified its No. 3 ranking in the world with another victory, this time 9-4 over skip Miyu Ueno’s Team Japan (1-3).

In the other game on the afternoon draw, Team Estonia (1-3), skipped by Liisa Turmann, hit the win column with a 10-7 extra-end decision over Jessica Smith’s Team New Zealand (1-4).

Other teams with the bye included Denmark (3-1), Scotland (1-3), Sweden (1-3) and Turkey (1-3).

The top two teams in the standings advance directly to the semifinals. The third- through sixth-ranked teams compete in playoff qualification games (3 vs. 6; 4 vs. 5) with the winners advancing to the semifinals. The semifinal winners play in the gold-medal game and the losers play for bronze. 

The final goes March 24.

The 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship continues with a draw at 7 p.m. (all times Atlantic).

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship are available by CLICKING HERE.

TSN and RDS2 will provide complete coverage of the 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship. CLICK HERE for the complete schedule.

For ticket information for the 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship, go to www.curling.ca/2024worldwomen/tickets/.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2024worldwomen/nouvelles/?lang=fr