Homan beats Hasselborg to secure playoff spot at WFG Masters
SASKATOON — Rachel Homan and her Ottawa-based club continue to cruise at the WFG Masters.
Team Homan climbed to a 3-0 round-robin record and clinched a playoff berth in the Grand Slam of Curling event following a tight 7-5 battle against Anna Hasselborg’s Swedish squad during Draw 10 Thursday.
Homan clinched a playoff berth in the Grand Slam of Curling major tournament with one group game to go.
“It’s fun to win games, right,” Team Homan lead Sarah Wilkes said with a laugh. “We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing and getting better every game.”
Homan, who has won three titles elsewhere on tour this fall, improved to an impressive 29-3 win-loss record on the season.
“It feels good,” Wilkes said. “We had a pretty long break, so it was nice to get three good games to start the tournament.”
Hasselborg (2-1) opened with the hammer and converted in the first end with shot rock biting the button and drawing to the lid for a second point.
It was deuces wild from there as Homan also drew to count a couple in the second end and Hasselborg once again potted a pair in the fourth to lead 4-2 at the break.
The 13-time Grand Slam women’s champion Homan tapped for two more in the fifth to tie it up.
Hasselborg, who has won seven titles in the series, looked to bump out Homan’s shot rock for yet another deuce in the seventh but couldn’t save her shooter and had to settle for just a single.
That handed the hammer coming home to Homan, who didn’t need to throw her last as her team already sat three rocks and Hasselborg came up light of the trio.
“It was a really tough game, they played really well,” Wilkes said. “A couple moments felt like we were just clawing, trying to stay in the game. We had a really good last end and my teammates made a lot of great shots.”
Elsewhere in Draw 10, Winnipeg’s Team Kaitlyn Lawes (2-1) scored four in the second end in a 9-6 victory over Vancouver’s Team Clancy Grandy (1-2).
Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni (2-1) scored three in the third and stole three in the fourth during a 9-3 rout over Sweden’s Team Isabella Wranå (1-2).
South Korea’s Team Eun-Jung Kim (1-2) stole one in the eighth end for a 5-4 decision against Scotland’s Team Rebecca Morrison (0-3).
WFG Masters: Scores / Standings | Draw Schedule | Broadcast Schedule
UP NEXT
The WFG Masters continues with Draw 11 at 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. local time on Sportsnet East, West, Pacific and Sportsnet+ (Canada) and GSOClive.com (international).
NOTES
The WFG Masters is the third Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday evening. … The top eight teams in both divisions advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals. If necessary, tiebreakers will be played Saturday morning to determine the final playoff spots. … The semifinals are also scheduled for Saturday with both finals on tap Sunday.
