Homan starts strong at worlds
Skip leads Canada to wins over Sweden and Denmark on opening day of championship
Rachel Homan and her Canadian rink capped a perfect opening day at the world women’s curling championship by defeating Denmark 7-4, the home team’s second win in as many games on Saturday.
Homan opened the world tourney earlier in the day with a 7-6 win over Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg at Sydney’s Centre 200.
The skill of the top-ranked Canadians was on full display against Denmark as Homan’s team proved to be a bit too much for 39thranked Denmark, led by skip Madeline Dupont.
An uncharacteristically slow start by the Canadian crew still saw them score one in the first end, with Denmark’s aggressive defence limited Canada’s options. Denmark countered with a single in the second end to tie it.
It remained close through the third end, with Canada and Denmark struggling to find the perfect spot for their stones.
It wasn’t until Homan made a pinpoint shot in the third to score a deuce that Canada regained the lead at 3-1.
Denmark blanked the fourth and scored once in the fifth, but gave up a crushing three in the sixth end to fall behind 6-2.
The Danes methodically work their way back in the seventh end with a single, but Canada regained control and took a 6-3 lead into the eighth that seemed insurmountable.
Denmark kept its hopes alive with a steal of one in the eighth end to reduce the deficit to 6-4, but Canada bounced back with a single to take a 7-4 lead into the 10th, then ran Denmark out of rocks.
Canada will be try to go 3-0 on Sunday afternoon against the United States.
Against Sweden, Homan was put to the test by the veteran Hasselborg.
“Phenomenal feeling,” Homan said after the win. “We’re battling out here for Canada and for everyone out here that’s cheering their hearts out, we feel their emotion with them.
“We’re just trying to place our best and get as many wins as we can for Canada.”
Canada scored two in the first end before Sweden made it 2-1 in the second. The Canadians rallied for two more in the third for a 4-1 advantage.
After Sweden pulled to within 4-2 after the fourth end, Canada stretched it to 5-2 heading into the sixth. The Swedes again scored one in the sixth, only to have the Canadians counter with another deuce in the seventh end for a commanding 7-3 lead.
Sweden made it interesting down the stretch, registering singles in each of the final three ends, but that was as close as it got.
“They’re a phenomenal team,” Homan said of Sweden. “When you can’t take on the centre line, it allows for a lot of rocks to play. And when you have to play defensive, a team can definitely crawl back. We’re ready for that.”
Hasselborg took the opening loss in stride.
“We just took a while to get into the ice and learn the ice,” she said. “And I think we did that a lot better through the game, and we will take that with us moving on.”