Homan rink aims for another sweep on the world stage
Championship gets underway Saturday
Rachel Homan intends to continue Canada’s curling dominance on the world stage.
On the heels of Jennifer Jones’s 11- 0 run in Sochi to claim an Olympic gold medal for Canada, Homan would love to roll through the women’s world championship to a title in Saint John, N. B., starting Saturday.
Homan and her Ottawa teammates boast their own unbeaten record domestically from the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Montreal. They went 13- 0 en route to a second straight Canadian title last month.
“Jones went undefeated. So did we,” Homan said. “We’re hoping to do the same thing at worlds and have a clean sweep for Canada. That would be a great ending to this year.
“Me and Jen will take pictures of our gold medals, hopefully. I love those girls. They’re amazing curlers and amazing people. So happy they were able to run the table and so proud to be Canadian watching them celebrate at the end.”
Canadian women also claimed this year’s world junior title in Flims, Switzerland, where Edmonton’s Kelsey Rocque defeated South Korea’s KyeongAe Kim 6- 4 in early March.
Homan, third Emma Miskew, second Alison Kreviazuk and lead Lisa Weagle open their world title bid Saturday against Russia’s Anna Sidorova.
Homan was a shot away from reaching last year’s world championship final in Riga, Latvia. With the score tied and Homan with hammer coming home, she missed a double takeout attempt to give Scotland’s Eve Muirhead the steal of a point and an 8- 7 victory.
The Canadians defeated Erika Brown of the U. S. for a bronze medal in their world championship debut.
“We were one shot short. That happens in sport,” Homan said. “I 100 per cent believe you learn so much more from losses than from wins. It’s hard to swallow at first, but when you can step back and reflect on that, the lessons you learn are invaluable.
“We’re grateful for the opportunities we’ve had. We’ve been in big games. We’re grateful for the losses and the wins. They’re both equally important to how we’re performing today and the level we’re at right now.”
The Homan foursome had more time to prepare for this year’s world championship in Saint John than they did for the tournament in Riga, although weather delayed their travel to both destinations.
A snowstorm grounded them in the Frankfurt airport for 30 hours en route to the Latvian capital last year.
Their flight Thursday from Halifax to Saint John was cancelled, so the team drove the final 410 kilometres of the journey, announcing their arrival on Twitter. This year’s Scotties was held earlier than usual due to the Winter Olympics. Homan won the Canadian championship Feb. 9, two days after the opening ceremonies in Sochi.
Because of the overlap, Jones wasn’t going to compete in the Scotties and didn’t participate in Manitoba provincials.
Homan and company had almost five weeks to prepare for this world championship instead of the usual 19 days after securing the Canadian title. “Going overseas and travelling six time zones is not ideal,” Homan said. “This year, it’s much better. We’re on home soil. We’ve been able to recover, organize our lives. It’s an amateur sport. We’ve got a lot on the go and a lot going on in our lives that we need to take care of before we leave.
“This year we’ve been able to see friends and family, relax a little bit, celebrate a little bit from the Scotties. It’s an amazing accomplishment and something we’re really proud of. We’ve also been able to practise a lot and get back to the gym. At the Scotties, it’s a little bit tougher to do off- ice training.”
Homan, Miskew, Kreviazuk and Weagle are all under the age of 28 and already one of the top women’s teams in the country.
Homan’s team is coached by Earle Morris, who coached son John and his B. C. team to second at the Brier.