FINALLY, A BREATHER

Team Canada makes quick work of Estonia to remain unbeaten at BKT Tires World Women’s 

If it wasn’t clear by now, it should be by now to followers of the 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship in Sydney, N.S.

Team Canada has a special player in Rachel Homan.

The Canadian skip was solid again Thursday morning as she led her team from the Ottawa Curling Club to a perfect 9-0 record after a six-end 9-4 victory over skip Liisa Turmann’s Team Estonia (1-8) at Centre 200.

The win kept Team Canada one step ahead of  Team Italy (8-1) in the 13-team, round-robin standings. The Italians, skipped by Stefania Constantini, clinched a playoff spot after a 10-2 victory over Team Norway (3-6), skipped by Marianne Roervik.

The top six teams at the end of the round robin qualify for the weekend playoffs, with the top two advancing straight to the semifinals.

Behind them was the imposing presence of defending champion Team Switzerland (7-2), skipped by Silvana Tirinzoni. The Swiss, coming off back-to-back losses, stopped the bleeding with a 10-2 victory over skip Jessica Smith’s Team New Zealand (1-8).

Skip Eunji Gim’s Team South Korea (6-2) follows close behind. The Koreans enjoyed the morning bye.

Homan admitted it was good to have a bit of a breather Thursday.

“For your hearts and stress levels for sure,” she said. “Didn’t expect it to be that lopsided . . . just caught them a couple of times on draw line (calls).”

Second Emma Miskew agreed.

“It’s nice to have a shorter game with the amount of night-morning games we’ve had so far,” she said.

Homan was near perfect again, shooting 90 per cent against Team Estonia, much as she has most of the week. This time, though, she didn’t need to be. Team Canada stole three in the first end, added four more in the second and another in the third.

The rout was on and the gloves would come off early for game-ending handshakes.

Homan wasn’t called upon to made her usual assortment of spectacular shots for the Canadians, much as she did Wednesday night in snatching a win out of the jaws of defeat against Team Turkey. In that game she made two spectacular runbacks in the 10th end that had zero room for error.

Against Team Estonia she was only required to make routine hits and draws. Erika Tuvike, who throws last rocks for Team Estonia, didn’t have it as easy, facing tough situations in several ends.

Homan wasn’t shaken by anything, including the loud cheering of school kids in the crowd.

“Can’t hear anything out there. It’s great, great energy,” said Homan, whose team is rounded out by vice-skip Tracy Fleury, lead Sarah Wilkes, alternate Rachel Brown and coached by Don Bartlett and national coach Viktor Kjell.

Brown was inserted into the game for the Canadians and later commented about Homan’s dedication to her craft.

“Her work ethic,” said Brown. “She’s always reviewing game tapes, watching the lines and striving for perfection. And then really good about communicating with others about her throws so everyone can get a sense of what it is doing.”

In the other game on the morning docket, Team U.S.A. (4-5), skipped by Tabitha Peterson, remained alive in the playoff race with a 9-7 win over skip Miyu Ueno’s Team Japan (4-5).

Other teams with the bye Thursday morning included Denmark (6-3), Sweden (5-4), Scotland (3-6) and Turkey (2-7).

Team Canada has the afternoon bye and faces Team New Zealand in the evening.

The third- through sixth-ranked teams after the round-robin wraps up Friday evening 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 is looking to win her second world title. She won her first in 2017 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 March 24.

The 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship continues with 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