Fleury anchors Team Canada to 2-0 record at world women’s championship

Tracy Fleury could be excused if she was a bit jittery playing in the 2024 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship in Sydney, N.S.

But she isn’t, even if it is her first appearance on the global stage.

Fleury was sharp, once again, in helping Team Canada sweep its first two games Saturday, and felt completely at home playing before a pro-Canada crowd at Centre 200.

Fleury, throwing third stones for Team Canada, shot an impressive 91 per cent in a first-game win over a tough Team Sweden, and followed that up in the evening with another solid shooting display (85 per cent) as Team Canada, skipped by Rachel Homan, posted a 7-4 win over Team Denmark (0-1), skipped by Madeleine Dupont.

While Fleury has been looking forward to playing in a world event for years, she won’t let that thrill overwhelm her. 

“I think (I bring) a positive energy and a calmness,” she said. “That’s me.”

“It’s just so fun wearing the Maple Leaf and representing your country and the home crowd,” added Fleury, who joined Homan’s team in 2022 after skipping her own successful team for several years.

Homan had high praise for her vice-skip.

“She’s a phenomenal curler and great energy on the ice,” she said. “We have great discussions, she knows the game really well. She gives me the confidence to make shots and we just have great dynamics.”

There is a long way to the playoffs, which begin next Saturday. An entire schedule essentially lays ahead, but Homan is satisfied her club is on-mark with a 2-0 record and holding a share of first place with defending champions Team Switzerland.

“I thought our team did a great job of learning the ice and learning the lines,” said Homan, who is also backed by 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 thought we battled really well as a team today.”

There are no punching bags at world women’s events. Every team is armed and dangerous, and the Danes proved that by putting up a good fight. Dupont, playing in her 15th world event, has never won it but did skip her country to a gold medal at the 2022 European championships. Her best record as a skip at worlds was 8-6 in 2021 at Calgary.

Five ends in and the Canadians only clung to a 3-2 lead.

But all that changed in the sixth end. Aided by a nifty double by Fleury and Dupont’s failure to make a straight-back double, Homan was able to draw for three and take a 6-2 lead.

The Danes took a single in the seventh and stole one in the eighth when Homan wrecked on a guard attempting a quiet hit for two.

The Canadians were forced to take a single in the ninth and then ran the Danes out of rocks coming home.

In another key game, Silvana Tirinzoni, skip of Team Switzerland (2-0), pushed her unbeaten streak at the world women’s event to 38 consecutive games after rolling to a 10-3 win over Team U.S.A. (1-1), skipped by Tabitha Peterson.

Tirinzoni and last-rock shooter Alina Paetz are looking to become the first women to win five consecutive world titles.

In other games, Team Italy (1-0), skipped by Stefania Constantini, defeated skip Liisa Turmann’s Team Estonia (0-1) 8-4, while Team Scotland (1-0), skipped by Rebecca Morrison, posted a 6-4 win over Team Norway (0-1), skipped by Marianne Roervik.

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 on Sunday with draws at 9 a.m., 2 p.m., 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