Homan-led Canadian rink improves to 6-0 at world women's curling championship
Veteran Ottawa skip ends Switzerland's 42-game winning streak at tournament
When coach Don Bartlett started working with Rachel Homan's team this season, he wanted the foursome to aim for a winning percentage of at least 80 per cent.
Mission more than accomplished so far.
Homan (6-0) picked up two more victories Tuesday to remain unbeaten at the world women's curling championship and extend her overall win streak to 22 games.
She edged Italy's Stefania Constantini 8-7 and followed it up with an 8-5 victory over Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni in the evening at Centre 200.
Tirinzoni (6-1), who has earned four straight world titles, had her 42-game winning streak at this competition come to an end.
WATCH | Homan halts Tirinzoni's win streak:
Homan's top-ranked Ottawa-based side improved to 55-5 on the campaign for an eye-popping victory clip of 92 per cent.
"It's just an incredible run," Bartlett said. "It just goes to show you [what can happen] if you work hard."
Tirinzoni (6-1), who has earned four straight world titles, had her 42-game winning streak at this competition come to an end.
In a marquee matchup between the top two women's teams in the world rankings, Homan, Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes scored four points in the seventh end to turn the game. The players shook hands after a Swiss single in the eighth.
"They played so great, I think nobody would have been able to beat them today," Tirinzoni said. "We tried everything, but not today. So 42 it is."
Fleury comes through late against Italy
Homan set the tone in the second end with a highlight-reel double angle-raise takeout for a deuce. In the fifth, she used control weight for a long double-takeout to set up another pair.
Uncharacteristic errors from the Swiss back end of Tirinzoni and fourth Alina Paetz led to Canada's first four-point end of the event. Paetz wrecked on a guard with her first shot and rolled out after her second stone was wide.
Homan had hammer and made the draw to the delight of the partisan crowd.
In the morning, Canada forced the Italians to a single in the 10th end and secured the win in the extra end when Constantini's final throw overcurled, leaving the opposing rock as shot stone.
The Canadians shot 86 per cent to Italy's 84 per cent in the back-and-forth battle. Fleury was slightly off in the early going — she shot a game-low 72 per cent — as Italy scored deuces in the first and fifth ends and took a 4-3 lead into the break.
WATCH | Canada pulls out extra-end victory over Italy:
Homan regained the lead with a pair in the sixth and added singles in the seventh and ninth ends. Her squad put the pressure on in the 10th while up one without hammer.
Canada sat five after Homan's final throw, forcing the Italians to make a draw to force an extra end.
"We stuck together," Homan said. "We figured out the rocks and the ice. Once we did that, we started making more shots."
Fleury rebounded late, making all four of her shots over the last two ends. Her final peel in the 11th left Italy without guards in play.
Constantini's final throw — a soft raise attempt — stopped short and Homan didn't need to return to the hack.
"You're going to get games like this where you're not quite sharp and you've got to rely a little bit too much on your skip," Bartlett said. "But Rachel is the best skip in the world. Her record shows it this year."
Top 6 teams reach playoffs
South Korea's Eunji Gim improved to 5-1 with a 10-3 rout of Turkey's Dilsat Yildiz in the evening. Scotland's Rebecca Morrison outscored Estonia's Liisa Turmann 12-8 and Sweden's Anna Hasselborg topped Denmark's Madeleine Dupont 6-5 in an extra end.
After 11 draws, Italy and South Korea were tied in third place. Denmark fell to 5-2 and Sweden was alone in sixth place at 4-3.
The top six teams at the end of round-robin play Friday will advance to the weekend playoffs.
Homan is making her fourth career appearance at this event. She won bronze in 2013, silver in '14 and gold in '17.
Since her last loss — a 6-5 decision to South Korea's EunJung Kim over two months ago — she has earned a Grand Slam title at the Co-op Canadian Open and her fourth career Scotties Tournament of Hearts crown.
"There's no quit in them," Bartlett said. "It's a dream team really. They've got it all."
WATCH | Homan downs Norway's Roervik on Monday:
Lotts still perfect at mixed doubles nationals
Kadriana and Colton Lott moved to 5-0 at the Canadian mixed doubles curling championship with a 6-5 win over Jenny and Edward White in a battle of husband-and-wife duos Tuesday.
The Lotts jumped out to a 4-1 lead after four ends in the late afternoon draw.
However, the Whites made it a game late, tying the contest with three in the seventh before the Lotts scored the winning single in the final end.
Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant, the 2019 national champions and world silver medallists, improved to 4-1 with two victories.
The duo earned a 6-5 win over the Whites in the morning and a 5-4 triumph over Anne-Sophie Gionest and Robert Desjardins later in the afternoon.
Defending champions Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing went 1-1 on Tuesday and are 2-3 for the tournament.
Jones and Laing dropped a 7-6 decision to Riley Sandham and Brendan Craig in the morning before bouncing back with an 8-7 extra-end win over Lisa Weagle and John Epping.
Laura Walker and Kirk Muyres improved to 5-0 with a 9-3 win in six ends over Felix Asselin and Laurie St-Georges (3-2) in the evening draw. Andrea Kelly and Tyler Tardi suffered their first loss, falling 11-4 in six ends to Ryan and Madison Kleiter in the evening draw. Both teams are 4-1.
There are four draws scheduled for Wednesday.
