Carey hands Homan first lost at Players’ Championship
TORONTO — Winnipeg’s Chelsea Carey held on to defeat Ottawa’s Rachel Homan 6-5 in the final women’s round-robin draw of the Players’ Championship on Friday at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Carey improved to a 2-2 record at the season-ending Grand Slam of Curling tournament to stay in contention for tiebreakers.
It was Homan’s first loss of the tournament, however, the reigning Canadian champion already clinched a playoff spot and topped Pool B with a 3-1 record.
Carey pulled ahead 4-0 early thanks to back-to-back double steals in the first couple ends.
Homan, who defeated Carey in the Masters final in November, settled for a single in the third and stole one in the fourth to cut the deficit in half heading into the break. Carey made an incredible double takeout to score two in the fifth and regain the four-point advantage.
Homan settled for a single in the sixth and stole one in the seventh but couldn’t complete the comeback as Carey conceded another in eight to secure victory.
Team Homan has a chance to earn a $100,000 bonus if the squad claims the Players’ Championship as well.
In other Draw 12 action, world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland scored a deuce in the extra end to win 8-6 over Moscow’s Anna Sidorova. Both teams finished round-robin play with 2-2 records, however, Muirhead moves on straight through to the quarterfinals based on draw-to-the-button totals while Sidorova will play Edmonton’s Heather Nedohin (2-2) in a tiebreaker.
Edmonton’s Laura Crocker (2-2) counted three in the eighth for a 7-5 victory against Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones (2-2). Crocker clashes with Carey in the tiebreakers while Jones faces Michelle Jaggi of Switzerland.
On the men’s side, Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., pulled off a 6-5 win over Toronto’s Greg Balsdon to stay in the mix. Gushue (2-2) picked up steals of one in the fifth and two in the sixth to pull away 6-2. Balsdon, who was eliminated at 1-3, replied with a deuce in the seventh and Gushue gave up one in eight to hold on.
Sweden’s Niklas Edin (2-2) will play at least one more game as well by picking up a 6-4 victory over Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock (1-3).
