Homan stays unbeaten
Canadian rink 3-0 after win over United States at world championship
Canada’s Rachel Homan improved to 3-0 at the world women’s curling championship with a 10-6 victory over Tabitha Peterson of the United States on Sunday.
The hosts opened with 7-6 and 7-4 victories over Sweden and Denmark on Saturday. Homan’s rink is one of three still undefeated, with Italy and Switzerland at 2-0.
“It’s a really great feeling to be able to battle with the best out here, and we hope to make Canada proud,” said Homan.
The Canadians will look to make it four straight when they take on Norway on Monday.
Without last rock for the first time in the tournament, the Canadians were on their heels early on Sunday after the U.S. secured a double in the first end to go up 2-0. It was the first double Homan’s rink had surrendered in Sydney, and marked the first time they had trailed in the tournament.
That didn’t last long. Canada took advantage of the hammer in the second end, threading a rock through a busy right side of the sheet to nudge the U.S. out of the eight-foot ring and score a double of its own, tying the game 2-2.
The third end saw the U.S. answer right back, as Peterson’s perfectly executed shot while facing two snuck to the button and earn a single.
But Canada came rolling back in the fourth. Taking advantage of a miscue from the U.S., Canada knocked an American rock out of the house and earned a double for a 4-3 advantage.
The fifth end brought fireworks. A gutsy throw by Homan to set Canada up for another double was undone by Peterson, who had just the right touch to sneak past Canada’s rocks and land directly on the button for a single.
After it appeared that Canada would only exit the sixth with a single after some smart placement by the Americans, Homan knocked the U.S. out of the house for a double and a 6-4 advantage.
In the seventh, the Americans scored two after a measurement and the teams were deadlocked again.
Canada blew the game open with three in the eighth for a 9-6 edge, followed by a steal in the ninth for the final margin.
“We played really good and kept the pressure on them,” Peterson said. “They didn’t really let up and we had a couple of misses late in the game, and it just tipped their way more.”
Round-robin play runs through Friday, with the top six among 13 teams advancing to the playoffs. There will be no tiebreakers. Ties for playoff spots will be broken based on head-to-head results.
The top two in the round robin advance directly to Saturday’s semifinals, while the third-place team will play the sixth and fourth will play fifth in a qualifying round that morning. Those winners will also advance to the semis.