 Ontario's Rachel Homan (Photo: Grand Slam of Curling) defeated Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni 8-2 to claim the Co-op Tour Challenge in Nisku, Alberta. By Connor Simms, #1 World-Ranked Rachel Homan with Tracy Fleury at third, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes on the front end, continue their dominance in the slams. This week, they were at the Co-op Tour Challenge. Last season at this event, Homan lost to Manitoba's Kerri Einarson in the final. Homan finished 3-1 in the 16-team qualifying round. In their opening game, Homan defeated Switzerland's Xenia Schwaller 7-5, then went on to lose 8-4 against Italy's Stefania Constantini. Homan responded with a 6-5 win over Sweden's Isabella Wrana. Homan won 7-4 against Sayaka Yoshimura (Sapporo, JPN) in their final qualifying round match. In the quarterfinals, Homan defeated Einarson 9-3, then defeated Sweden's Anna Hasselborg 5-4 in the extra-end shootout. This set up a match with Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni in the final. This marks their ninth final against each other, with six of those matchups happening over the last two years. The Tirinzoni squad started with the hammer due to their perfect round robin record. In the first end, Paetz over-curved on a hit and stick attempt, giving up an early 4-0 lead to Homan. Tirinzoni got their single in the second end, making a draw to the eight foot. In the third end, Homan was playing a hit and stick for their one, ended up rolling too far, giving up the steal of one. With the new blank rules in place, Homan had an opportunity to use their blank in the fourth end, but decided to draw to the open rings for their single point instead. Homan then added one more in the fifth end after Paetz rolled out. Homan then added two more and forced handshakes in the sixth, taking the 8-2 victory. This broke the record for the most Grand Slam of Curling titles for Miskew and Homan with 19, passing Kevin Martin. This moves Fleury to win number 10 and Wilkes to number 9. As a foursome, this is their eighth title. On the men's side, Scotland's Bruce Mouat defeated Manitoba's Matt Dunstone 5-2 in the final It will be a short turnaround for Team Homan as they head straight to Minnesota for the Pan Continental Championships with their first game on Tuesday. |
A five at the opening end of their first-ever match together in a major international competition sent Katie McMillan and Angus Bryce on their way to a dominant victory over the USA at the ACE & Company World Mixed Doubles Championships in Geneva.
