News National

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Ottawa’s Rachel Homan is back in business in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling.

After missing the playoffs at the past two events in the series to start the season, Homan qualified at the BOOST National following a dicey 6-5 victory Friday over Michelle Englot’s team from Winnipeg.

Homan, who has won six Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles, is trending upwards finishing round-robin play with a 3-1 record. Her only blemish so far came at the start against Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ont.

“The last couple events … it’s not as bad as everyone thinks,” Team Homan third Emma Miskew said. “Getting back to the weekend obviously feels really nice, we’re happy not to be going home on the Friday but we’re just trying to learn one game at a time here.”

Team Homan opened the repeat of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts final against Team Englot with the hammer and converted for a deuce in the second. Englot attempted a double but missed the second by the narrowest of margins allowing Homan an easy open draw practically anywhere in the rings for two.

Englot pulled off the double in three on her first skip stone and faced just one in the house with her last. It was a fortunate force for Homan though as Englot landed right on the nose and took a single.

Homan notched another deuce in the fourth with an open tap to grab a 4-1 lead heading into halftime.

The following few ends were a complete inverse of the previous three. Homan looked to make a risky hit and roll in from the 12-foot circle in five but it stuck to let Englot execute a nose hit for two and close the gap to one.

After Englot froze perfectly to prevent a big score in six, Homan came around the guard to bump her own and cover the pin for a point and maintain control 5-3. Homan was short with her last in seven giving Englot an open draw for two to tie it.

“With five-rock rule it’s really tough to defend a deuce so we’re really trying to limit them to two at the most and not give them more than two, so you end up playing a little bit more defensively,” Miskew said. “We were in the situation we wanted. We really wanted hammer coming home and to have a close game is just good for prep, learning the ice and all of that sort of stuff.”

The pressure eased up for Homan as she didn’t have to make her last shot. Englot’s final stone under-curled colliding with Homan’s rock, which remained ahead for the winner.

“That always helps [not throwing the last] but we were prepared if we had to,” Miskew said. “It was just a nice little change of pace there.”

Englot is out with a 1-3 round-robin record.

BOOST National: Tickets | Scores | Standings | Draw Schedule | TV Schedule

Elsewhere in Draw 12, Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones is riding the wave into the playoffs wrapping up preliminary play at 4-0 with an 8-4 victory over Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge, Alta.

Jones’s winning streak in the series goes up to 11 now after running the table last month at the Masters.

“It’s nice to grind our way through the round-robin,” Team Jones third Kaitlyn Lawes said. “All of these games are really hard so we’re really happy with fighting our way into the playoffs. The more wins, the more confidence so we’re excited to see where tomorrow brings us.”

The eight-time Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title winner Jones jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a deuce in one and a steal in the second. The teams split singles in three and four as Jones stayed ahead but Scheidegger (3-1) erased the deficit with a three-spot in six. Jones shook it off responding with a four-score in seven on a nifty hit and roll then ran Scheidegger out of rocks in eight.

“That was a huge shot by Jenn,” Lawes said. “They kind of left us that shot. We were eyeing it up for the last couple shots in the end. Jenn threw it great so it was pretty exciting to play one of those in-offs and get away with one.”

Alina Paetz of Switzerland has turned the corner winning her second consecutive game to clinch a playoff spot. Paetz held off Julie Tippin of Woodstock, Ont., 9-7 in an extra end. The 2015 world champion Paetz scored three in the seventh to grab a 7-4 lead but Tippin (1-3) replied with a three-spot of her own in the eighth. Paetz (2-2) punched two on the scoreboard in OT to advance.

Calgary’s Chelsea Carey also qualified at 2-2 following an 11-5 rout over Allison Flaxey (1-3) of Caledon, Ont. Carey took two in the first and stole a pair in the second for an early 4-0 lead. The teams traded twos in three and four and Carey stole one in five to extend her advantage to five points. Flaxey appeared to get back into it with a three-ender in six, but it was handshakes after seven when Carey put the game out of reach with a score of four.

The women’s playoff bracket is set for Saturday: top-seed Fleury (4-0) goes up against Binia Feltscher (2-2) of Switzerland, Homan faces Scheidegger, Edmonton’s Val Sweeting (4-0) clashes with Carey and Jones plays Paetz.

In men’s play, Toronto’s John Epping earned a must-win dub defeating Chang-Min Kim of South Korea 4-1. Epping (2-2) broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth with a narrow draw for two and stole one in the seventh as Kim missed the target on a runback attempt.

Kim (3-1) already qualified in his Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling debut.

The BOOST National is the third event and second major of the 2017-18 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season and features 15 of the best men’s teams and 15 of the best women’s teams from around the globe.

TV coverage continues Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Sportsnet, Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and gsoc.yaretv.com (international).