After a tight back and forth final, Rachel Homan (Photo: Curling Canada) stole two in the last end to win her first event of the 2024-25 season. By Meredith McCullum With a 6-5 win over Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni, Rachel Homan and her team out of the Ottawa Curling Club continued their undefeated week to become champions at the 2024 Shorty Jenkins Classic. Rachel Homan is backed by third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes who are entering their third year as a team, as well as new coach Brendan Bottcher who has joined the team for the 2024-25 season. Homan was given hammer to start the game courtesy of her undefeated record coming in, and she blanked the first end. In the second, Homan was unable to make a nose hit on her last shot and rolled out resulting in a steal of one for Tirinzoni. Homan bounced back nicely in the third with a soft weight tap on her final shot to score two and go up 2-1. In the fourth, a triple for Homan on her last shot limited a possible big end, but Tirinzoni made a tap to score her deuce and go back up 3-2. In the fifth, Homan was forced to draw to the pin for one, giving the all important sixth end hammer to Tirinzoni in a tie game 3-3. Tirinzoni took advantage, scoring two points to go up 5-3 after six ends. In the seventh end, Homan got into trouble early and faced five Tirinzoni rocks in the four foot on her first, but she made two nice shots to score a point, making the score 5-4 for Tirinzoni going into the eighth end. In the eighth and final end, Homan set up two rocks buried in the four foot with a beautiful freeze by Tracy Fleury. The teams traded hits and Tirinzoni peeled the guard on her first shot. Homan put the guard back up, forcing Tirinzoni to a difficult draw. Tirinzoni came up light, resulting in a steal of two and a 6-5 victory for the Homan rink. AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic FINAL: Silvana Tirinzoni vs Rachel Homan Team Homan will play in the Pointsbet Invitational in Calgary, Alberta from September 25-29. They are seeded first going into the tournament and will be facing 2024 Canadian College Champion Gabby Wood in their first round matchup of a single elimination event. Following the Pointsbet, Homan will be heading straight to Charlottetown where they will be playing in the Tour Challenge Slam, the first event of the 2024-25 Grand Slam of Curling Tour, from October 1-6. Check out CurlingZone.com for continuing coverage and live scores of events as they happen. The conclusion of the men's Shorty Jenkins event will take place tonight at 3:30pm ET when Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller takes on Scotland's Bruce Mouat in the event final. |