 Canada's Team Rachel Homan begins its world championship defence on Saturday at the 2025 LGT World Women's Curling Championship in Uijeongbu, South Korea. The defending champions open the event with two games at the Uijeongbu Arena. Canada faces Lithuania's Team Virginija Paulauskaite at 1 a.m. (all times ET). Lithuania is making its world women's championship debut after winning silver at the 2024 World Senior Curling Championships, losing in the final to Canada's Team Susan Froud. Later that day, at 6 a.m., Team Homan will take on Scotland's Team Sophie Jackson. The Scottish squad returns from last year's event in Sydney, N.S., with Jackson now skipping and Rebecca Morrison continuing to throw fourth stones. Skip Rachel Homan, vice-skip Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew, lead Sarah Wilkes, alternate Rachelle Brown, and national coaches Viktor Kjell and Renée Sonnenberg are aiming to become the first Canadian team to win back-to-back world women's titles in more than 30 years. While separate Canadian teams have secured consecutive championships, the last time the same lineup repeated as world champions was Team Sandra Schmirler in 1993 and 1994. Three other teams have successfully defended world titles, including Sweden's Team Elisabet Gustafson (1998, 1999), Sweden's Team Anette Norberg (2005, 2006), and Switzerland's Team Silvana Tirinzoni (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023). Last season, Team Homan denied Switzerland's Team Tirinzoni a fifth straight title with a 7-5 victory in the gold-medal game. The two teams meet again in a highly anticipated rematch on Wednesday, March 19, at 8 p.m. Team Homan's world championship win capped off a stellar 2023-24 season. It marked Homan and Miskew's second world title (after 2017) and the first for Fleury and Wilkes. The team finished the season with an impressive 67-7 record. Team Homan continues its dominance this year, entering the world championship with a 56-4 record and as one of the tournament favourites. The championship features the world's best women's curling teams, competing for a podium finish and Olympic Qualification Points. These points, earned at the 2024 and 2025 world championships, will determine the seven nations joining host Italy at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. As reigning gold medallists, Team Homan is in a strong position to secure Canada's Olympic berth. Curling fans will recognize many returning teams, including Switzerland's silver medallists and bronze medallists, Team Eunji Gim of South Korea. Also returning are Denmark's Team Madeleine Dupont, Italy's Team Stefania Constantini, Norway's Team Marianne Roervik, Scotland's Team Jackson, Sweden's Team Anna Hasselborg, Turkey's Team Dilsat Yildiz, and Team Tabitha Peterson of the United States. China's Team Rui Wang, and JJapan'sTeam, Sayaka Yoshimura, also return. This year marks China's first world women's appearance since 2021 and Yoshimura's first since that same year. Round-robin play runs through Friday, March 21. The top six teams advance to the playoffs, with no tiebreaker games—ties are resolved by head-to-head results or, if needed, pre-game Last-Shot Draw distances. The top two teams from the round robin earn direct semifinal berths on March 22 at 3 a.m. ET. The third-place team plays the sixth, and the fourth-place team faces the fifth in qualifying games at 9 p.m. on Friday. Winners advance to the semifinals, with the semifinal victors playing for gold on March 23 at 3 a.m., while the losing teams compete for bronze on March 22 at 9 p.m. Canada's Full Schedule (All Times ET): Saturday, March 15 1 a.m. - vs. Lithuania (Team Virginija Paulauskaite) 6 a.m. - vs. Scotland (Team Sophie Jackson) Sunday, March 16 1 a.m. - vs. Sweden (Team Anna Hasselborg) Monday, March 17 1 a.m. - vs. Denmark (Team Madeleine Dupont) 8 p.m. - vs. United States (Team Tabitha Peterson) Tuesday, March 18 6 a.m. - vs. Turkey (Team Dilsat Yildiz) 8 p.m. - vs. South Korea (Team Eunji Gim) Wednesday, March 19 6 a.m. - vs. Norway (Team Marianne Roervik) 8 p.m. - vs. Switzerland (Team Silvana Tirinzoni) Thursday, March 20 6 a.m. - vs. Japan (Team Sayaka Yoshimura) Friday, March 21 1 a.m. - vs. Italy (Team Stefania Constantini) 6 a.m. - vs. China (Team Rui Wang) 9 p.m. - Qualification game* Saturday, March 22 3 a.m. - Semifinals* 9 p.m. - Bronze-medal game* Sunday, March 23 3 a.m. - Gold-medal game* (*pending qualification) All Team Homan games will be available on TSN. |
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Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant (Photo: World Curling) are tied for second at the midway point of the competition.
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