Canada’s Team Rachel Homan topples undefeated Switzerland at 2025 LGT World Women’s Curling Championship

UIJEONGBU, SOUTH KOREA — Forget pulling rabbits out of hats — Team Rachel Homan’s magic was more like escaping a shark-infested tank while handcuffed, a feat of skill and nerve under pressure. On Thursday morning, the Canadians battled back to earn an extra-end win against undefeated Team Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland at the  2025 LGT World Women’s Curling Championship.

Ottawa’s Team Homan drew for the game-winning point in the 11th end for a 7-6 victory. Canada, now 7-2 and tied for second, has pulled itself one game back of first-place Switzerland (8-1) in the 13-team field at Uijeongbu Arena.

Homan, along with vice-skip Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew, lead Sarah Wilkes, alternate Rachelle Brown, and national coaches Viktor Kjell and Renée Sonnenberg, have positioned themselves to earn one of the two available byes directly to the semifinals. The top six teams advance to the playoffs, with the bottom four first competing in a qualifying round for a spot in the semis.

The win has also virtually guaranteed Canada a spot in the women’s curling competition at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. The Olympic Qualification Points earned this year, and the 2024 World Women’s Championship will determine the seven nations joining host Italy. As reigning gold medalists, Team Homan had the inside track to secure Canada’s direct entry to the Olympics.

“I feel pretty proud that we’re able to represent Canada and get enough points to get to an Olympic spot. I’m just proud that we’re able to clinch that spot for Canada,” Homan said.

The women’s team that will represent Canada at the 2026 Olympics will be determined at the 2025 Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials in November.

Canada showcased its resiliency in the win against Switzerland. Team Tirinzoni had two opportunities to end the game against Canada, but left the door open for the comeback.

With the game tied in the eighth end, Switzerland missed a golden opportunity to put the game away. Canada buried their shot stone in the back eight-foot, but Switzerland had a tap for a potential four-ender. Paetz came out of the hack with too much heat, and her sweepers couldn’t carve the stone enough to remove the Canadian rock fully. The Swiss settled for just one, giving Canada a fresh burst of life.

Canada scored a deuce in the ninth end to take the lead. However, Switzerland had an opportunity to win the game in the 10th. Team Homan was light on a draw to sit two, and Swiss fourth Alina Paetz had an in-off to win. Switzerland connected with the target but pushed its game-winning point too far out of the scoring zone for a single and tie game.

“The turning point was probably her miss for that four. Honestly, I don’t know if it was there. She squeaked the guard as much as she could and I thought we put ours in almost a perfect spot, like maybe a foot higher. But other than that, it was exactly where we wanted it and made her make a tough one. I just don’t know if it was there. So I think that was the turning point to save the end,” Homan said. “We made a lot of big shots when it looked bad early. We let a couple two’s get away from us, too. We had some opportunities we didn’t quite capitalize on. It took us 11 ends to beat them and I’m just really proud of my team for sticking together and trying to make the next one.”

Since the start of the 2023–24 season, Team Homan holds a 9–1 record against Team Tirinzoni. While the numbers suggest a clear advantage for Canada, they reflect more on Team Homan’s ability to control games and consistently find ways to win — including ending Tirinzoni’s undefeated run at worlds.

“If you look at those games, it came down to millimetres and inches here and there. So I don’t think the record speaks to how big the battles are that we have against each other,” Homan said.

While Canada started with hammer, Switzerland had an answer for every Canadian attempt at scoring. Team Tirinzoni forced Team Homan to a single in the second and then jumped ahead with a deuce in the third when Canada stuffed a soft-weight double attempt, leaving a draw for two. 

Team Homan replied with two in the fourth, which kicked off a middle half of the game with the teams exchanging deuces. Paetz made a hit and jam, providing Canada with the golden opportunity to score two. In the fifth end, Homan and Paetz exchanged double attempts, with the latter helping the Swiss earn a score of two. 

Canada blanked the sixth but was forced to one in the seventh.

Team Homan aims to continue its momentum later today with a game against Japan’s Team Sayaka Yoshimura (3-6) at 6 a.m. (ET) on Thursday.

In other Draw 15 games, Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg (7-2) caught up to South Korea’s Team Eunji Gim (7-2) in the standings with a 7-5 win. Those teams are now tied with Canada for second place. Turkey’s Team Dilsat Yildiz (1-8) earned its first win of the week with a 4-3 win against Japan. Denmark’s Team Madeleine Dupont (5-4) stayed above .500 with a 10-9 win against Team Tabitha Peterson of the United States (3-6).

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Non-Canadian round-robin games are available through World Curling’s streaming platform, The Curling Channel.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible here.