Canada's Homan hands Switzerland 1st loss, improves to 7-2 at curling worlds
Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni is undefeated no longer after meeting Canada's Rachel Homan.
Homan handed Tirinzoni her first loss of the round-robin with a 7-6 extra-end victory at the LGT women's world curling championship on Thursday in Uijeongbu-si, South Korea.
The Ottawa-based team, which also includes Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes, scored a point with the hammer in the 11th end to improve to 7-2 at Uijeongbu Arena.
"It took us 11 ends to beat them, and I'm just really proud of my team for sticking together and trying to make the next one," Homan said in a press release.
Canada is tied with Sweden's Anna Hasselborg and South Korea's Eunji Gim, while Tirinzoni leads the standings at 8-1.
The top six teams in the 13-team field will advance to the weekend playoffs, while the bottom four compete in a qualifying round for a spot in the semifinals.
The win virtually guaranteed Canada a spot in the women's curling competition at the 2026 Olympics, according to Curling Canada.
"I feel pretty proud that we're able to represent Canada and get enough points to get to an Olympic spot," Homan said. "I'm just proud that we're able to clinch that spot for Canada."
WATCH | Homan hands Switzerland 1st loss at women's curling worlds:
Canada's Homan hands Switzerland's Tirinzoni 1st loss at women's curling worlds
8 hours ago
Duration 1:30
Rachel Homan and her Ottawa-based rink defeats Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni 7-6 at the world women's curling championship. The Swiss team still sits in first place at 8-1, while Canada improves to 7-2 and moves into a three-way tie for second place with South Korea and Sweden.
China's Rui Wang was in fifth place at 5-3, ahead of Scotland's Sophie Jackson and Denmark's Madeleine Dupont at 5-4.
Canada was scheduled to play Japan's Sayaka Yoshimura (3-6) later Thursday.
Homan beat Tirinzoni to win gold at the 2024 world playdowns in Sydney, N.S.
The five-time Canadian champion took a 1-0 lead in the second on Thursday before three alternating two-score ends made it 4-3 Tirinzoni after five.
Tied 4-4 in the eighth, Switzerland had an opportunity to score four with the hammer but settled for one point. Switzerland had a tap for a potential four-ender but wasn't able to fully remove Canada's rock.
"The turning point was probably her miss for that four," Homan said. "Honestly, I don't know if it was there. She squeaked the guard as much as she could, and I thought we put ours in almost a perfect spot, like maybe a foot higher.
"Other than that, it was exactly where we wanted it and made her make a tough one. I just don't know if it was there. So I think that was the turning point to save the end."
Canada responded with two in the ninth before Switzerland forced the extra end with one point, failing to find the winning score with an opportunity to win the game.
Canada shot 88 per cent as a team while Switzerland was at 84 per cent.
Homan improved to 9-1 over Tirinzoni since the start of the 2023-24 season.
Homan split her games on Tuesday, losing 11-7 to host South Korea before beating Norway 8-6 in the late draw.
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