Homan team still on learning curve at worlds
SAINT JOHN, N. B. — It was one step ahead, one step back and two steps down in the standings for Rachel Homan and her teammates on Sunday.
The sun will still come up in the morning, though, and the Ottawa Curling Club foursome will know they’re still in the game at the women’s world championship, tied for third place at 2- 1 even after their onesidedas- it- sounded 8- 2 loss to Switzerland at Harbour Station arena.
“They made a lot of great shots,” Canadian third Emma Miskew said. “Sometimes, when you come out flat against a team that makes everything, it turns into a pretty lopsided score.
“Good on them for playing well. We just have to come out a little bit better next game.”
That would be Monday afternoon against Denmark ( 1- 2), followed by an increasingly significant showdown against Allison Pottinger’s U. S. rink, which shares first place with Switzerland at 3- 0 after holding off Germany 6- 5 and blasting the Danes 13- 2 in just six ends.
Homan, the Canadian skip, Miskew, second Alison Kreviazuk and lead Lisa Weagle could look at the stat sheet and take solace from seeing that they outcurled the Swiss a combined 82 per cent to 75, but they’d have trouble reconciling that with the blowout score on the boards at both ends of the sheet.
What mattered most was that Swiss skip Binia Feltscher, especially, didn’t miss when it mattered most. The turning point was her combination angle takeout of two Canadian stones to score three points in the fifth end, giving Switzerland a 4- 2 lead.
Then the Swiss kept applying the pressure against an opponent that went 13- 0 during the Scotties Tournament of Hearts national championship at Montreal in February before winning its first two games here.
Homan was left with increasing difficult shots with her final throws of the sixth, seventh and eighth ends, and none of them produced the desired result. Instead, the Swiss stole one, two and one points to cement their victory. “They have maybe 15- 0 record, but we had nothing to lose in this game,” Feltscher said. “We played our game, and it goes well.”
Very well, actually, but it was still only the third of 11 games or more during a weeklong world championship event. Feltscher agreed that being 3- 0 was better than the alternatives, but there’s a long way still to go.
“Yes, we are happy with these three wins. It’s always a perfect start, and you feel better, you sleep better. You feel better when you have some wins,” Feltscher said with partial translation assistance from team alternate Carole Howald. “That’s good to have, but it may be nothing at the end of the week.”
The Canadians certainly didn’t plan on giving up after a single setback. They remember being 2- 3 at mid- week during last year’s world championship at Riga, Latvia, and they went from there on a run that took them to the semifinal.
They lost that contest to Eve Muirhead’s Scottish foursome, but rebounded to beat a U. S. rink skipped by Erika Brown to claim bronze medals.
“At the end of the week, every team will have a loss,” Miskew predicted. “The field is so tough. You ( all) run into teams that are really on at some point. One loss is definitely not something to be concerned about. We are going to try to come out sharper ( Monday), and we’ll see what happens from there.”
Also at 2- 1 are Russia, Sweden and South Korea. The group tied for seventh at 1- 2 includes Denmark, Latvia, China and Scotland.