Ottawa’s Rachel Homan locked up top spot in the women’s standings and a berth in the semifinals at the Grand Slam of Curling Players’ Championship with a 6-5 win over Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa in Friday’s second draw.
Homan finished the round robin at the season-ending tournament a perfect 5-0, but needed an extra end to beat Fujisawa (1-4).
The Japanese skip entered the match already eliminated from playoff contention, but gave the reigning women’s world champion a tough match.
She took a 4-3 lead with three points in the sixth, and sent the game to an extra end with one in the eighth after Homan went up 5-4 with two in the seventh.
WATCH | Homan victorious at worlds:
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Canada’s Rachel Homan wins gold at the women’s curling world championship with a 7-5 win over Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni. The win ended Canada’s six-year title drought at this event.
Sweden’s Isabella Wrana took the other direct berth into the semifinal with a 5-4 win over Italy’s Stefania Constantini in Friday’s third draw.
Wrana, Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni and South Korea’s Gim Eun-ji all finished the round robin at 4-1, but the Swedish skip had the tiebreaker with the superior shootout score.
A team’s cumulative shootout score comes from pre-game draws to the button to determine which team gets hammer.
Tirinzoni had a chance to lock up a top-two finish and earn a semifinal spot but lost 11-9 to Gim in her final game.
The top six teams in each competition qualify for the playoffs.
Jones scheduled for possible final 4-person match
In other results from the third draw, Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., scored a point in an extra end to defeat South Korea’s Kim Eunjung 7-6.
Kim still advanced to the playoffs with a 6-2 record, while Einarson (2-3) had to wait for the results of the final round-robin draw Friday evening to learn her fate.
Winnipeg’s Matt Dunstone (2-3) posted a 6-3 win over Scotland’s James Craik (1-4). Neither team qualified for the playoffs.
In other results from Friday’s second draw, Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher finished the round-robin at 2-3 with a convincing 8-2 win over world men’s silver medallist Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L. (3-2). Gushue locked up a playoff spot despite the loss.
Italy’s Joel Retornaz edged Scotland’s Ross Whyte 8-7. Both teams finished with 3-2 records and qualified for the playoffs.
The victory assured McEwen of a top-two finish in the men’s standings and a bye to the semifinals.
Einarson of Gimli, Man., scored two in the final end for a 6-5 win over Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes (0-4), and men’s world champion Niklas Edin (2-2) also scored a deuce in the final end in a 6-5 win over Koe.
Curling legend Jennifer Jones (1-3), in potentially her final women’s curling match, was scheduled to face Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg (2-2) in Friday’s final draw.
Jones, who was a longshot to make the playoffs, says she is retiring from four-player curling after this season but will continue to compete in mixed doubles.
WATCH | Jones reflects on sparkling career:
Jennifer Jones joins That Curling Show ahead of her final appearance at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, with the announcement that she will be retiring at the end of this season. The skip reflects on her illustrious career, the influence of her dad on her journey, and what she plans to do next.
Source Agencies
