NAIL-BITING WIN!

Team Canada remains unbeaten at BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship

The days of Team Italy being lightly regarded in curling on the world stage are long over.

Team Canada skip Rachel Homan and her teammates from the Ottawa Curling Club didn’t need to be reminded of that Tuesday morning as they had their hands full with the Italians at the 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship at Centre 200 in Sydney, N.S.

 The Canadians had to battle tooth and nail into an extra end before pulling out an 8-7 win in a key matchups of undefeated teams in the 13-team world event.

“It’s not easy out here, but thankfully we pulled it out,” said Homan, who recovered from an early deficit to boost her team’s record to an unblemished 5-0 and move back into a tie for first place with idle Team Switzerland (5-0). “They’re a great team and they played amazing. We stuck together, we figured out the rocks and the ice and started making more shots.”

Lead Sarah Wilkes agreed Team Canada had to sweat this one out.

“They were making everything,” she said. “Their skip was making every single draw and we just came out and missed a couple early, but managed to hang on and keep learning the rocks and learning the ice.”

The Italians, skipped by Stefania Constantini, fell to 4-1 and into a three-way tie for second place with idle Team Denmark (4-1) and Team South Korea (4-1), which also won its morning game Tuesday.

There was some quiet relief from Homan, Wilkes and Co. — vice-skip Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew, alternate Rachel Brown and coached by Don Bartlett and national coach Viktor Kjell — after their morning win against the ninth-ranked women’s team in the world. They have a big date with the four-times defending champions Team Switzerland in the evening and didn’t want to go into that game on a downer.

Homan, as she has done all week, made some huge shots when Team Canada really needed them, but none bigger than in the fifth end when she bailed her team out of serious trouble with five Italian rocks in the house. She cleaned out three of them with her first delivery, then two more with her second, to reduce the damage.

She finished her morning’s work shooting 96 per cent.

Constantini, trying to steal in the extra end, came up light with her last-gasp raise to the button facing two Canadian stones, and Homan didn’t have to use her hammer stone.

“We played a really good game,” said the Italian skip. “Canada is one of the strongest teams in the world so it’s OK, we accept it. We have another game and already thinking about it.”

The evening match with Team Switzerland, skipped by Silvana Tirinzoni, could feature a clash of teams not only fighting for first place but also on a serious roll. The Swiss, if they defeat skip Marianne Roervik’s Team Norway in the afternoon draw, will have won 42 straight world women’s games, while Team Homan is on a 21-game heater (in all levels of competition) after its win against Team Italy.

The Swiss are hoping to extend another streak. Tirinzoni and last-rock shooter Alina Paetz are looking to become the first women to win five consecutive world titles.

Team South Korea, skipped by Eunji Gim, lost its opener to the Swiss on Day 1 but has roared back with four straight wins, including a 9-3 decision over Team Scotland (1-5), skipped by Rebecca Morrison.

In the other game on a truncated three-game draw, Team Sweden (3-3), skipped by Anna Hasselborg, won its third straight game to get back into the playoff conversation, edging Team Turkey (1-5), skipped by Dilsat Yildiz, 9-6.  

Only six teams make the playoffs so every game carries a lot of weight.

Other teams with the Tuesday bye included Denmark (4-1), Norway (2-3), U.S.A. (2-3), Estonia (1-4), Japan (1-4), and New Zealand (1-4).

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. 

Homan won the 2017 world championship in Beijing, China, with Miskew, Joanne Courtney and Lisa Weagle. Jennifer Jones skipped the last Canadian team to win it in 2018 in North Bay, Ont.

The final goes Sunday.

The 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship continues with a draws at 2 p.m. and 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