News National

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Ottawa’s Rachel Homan began her quest to repeat as the Boost National champion with a bang taking an 8-3 win over Calgary’s Chelsea Carey during Draw 2 action Wednesday morning at the Essar Centre.

Homan won the inaugural title just over a year ago in Oshawa, Ont., earning her second of a record three consecutive Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling women’s majors. 

Team Homan second Joanne Courtney said it was a good start to their title defence.

“The first game of the event you just want to learn the ice and there was a lot of chatter out there and learning,” she said. “We’re happy with the score and how we came out with it.” 

Homan capitalized in the first end after Carey’s last went straight through the house, allowing her to make an out-turn draw to the side of the four-foot circle to score three points. Carey drew for just a single in the third. Homan counted a couple in the fourth and Carey matched with a deuce in five. Homan made an open hit for another three-ender in the sixth leading to early handshakes.

Olympic silver medallist Susan O’Connor is subbing for Team Carey third Amy Nixon this week.

Elsewhere, Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg brushed aside EunJung Kim of South Korea 5-2. Hasselborg broke a 1-1 tie with a deuce in the fourth and stole two in the fifth to extend her lead to four points. Kim was limited to one in the seventh. 

Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland earned a quick 7-1 victory over Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson. It was all Tirinzoni taking two in the first then stealing one in the second and a pair in three. Einarson got on the scoreboard with a point in the fourth but shook hands after Tirinzoni tacked on another in the fifth. Five-time Grand Slam champion Cathy Overton-Clapham is filling in for Team Tirinzoni third Manuela Siegrist, who is out with a knee injury. 

In the men’s division, Peter de Cruz of Switzerland swiped a 6-1 win from David Murdoch of Scotland. De Cruz stole two in the second and one in the third for an early 3-0 advantage. Murdoch was forced to one in four and De Cruz continued to cruise with a deuce in five and another single steal in six. 

The match between Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen and Charley Thomas of Edmonton has been rescheduled for Draw 6 (Thursday 8:30 a.m. ET).

NOTES: The Boost National is the third event and second major of the 2016-17 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season. … TV coverage begins Thursday at Noon ET on Sportsnet. … Round-robin action continues Wednesday at Noon ET. … All teams play four round-robin games with the top eight moving on to the playoffs. … The Boost National runs through to Sunday afternoon at the Essar Centre.