News Masters

OAKVILLE, Ont. — Team Rachel Homan kept their unblemished record intact at the WFG Masters following a 7-5 victory over Team Silvana Tirinzoni during Draw 10 Thursday.

Homan, from Ottawa, moved up to a 3-0 mark in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling major tournament at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex and has won six straight games in the series after capturing her record-extending 12th women’s title in the series at the HearingLife Tour Challenge in October.

Tirinzoni, who won the season-opening BOOST National in October, is at the opposite end of the table and has been eliminated at 0-3.

The Swiss squad opened with the hammer and capitalized after a Homan miss to count three points in the first, however, Homan regrouped and responded with an identical score right back in the second to tie it 3-3.

Homan sat three counters in the house during the third end to force Team Tirinzoni to just a single and then scored a deuce in the fourth to pull ahead 5-4. It was a bit of a missed opportunity as Homan could have counted three, but her shooter rolled away just a tad too far.

Nevertheless, Homan remained in control. Team Tirinzoni was limited to just another single in the fifth. Homan hit a double takeout for a point in the sixth then stole one in the seventh to establish the two-point advantage. Tirinzoni held the hammer coming home, however, fourth Alina Pätz never got to throw their team’s last stone as Homan ran them out of rocks.

Meanwhile, Team Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge, Alta., picked up their first win after escaping with a 6-4 win over Winnipeg’s Team Chelsea Carey (2-1). Team Scheidegger (1-2) stole one in the seventh to tie it and swiped a pair of points in the eighth end as well.

Scheidegger and second Jessie Haughian are not playing this week due to a family emergency. Third Kate Hogan is skipping and lead Taylor McDonald is throwing second. Meghan Walter and Mackenzie Elias from Winnipeg’s Team Abby Ackland are subbing at third and lead, respectively.

Switzerland’s Team Michele Jäggi improved to a 2-1 record by stealing singles in the seventh and eighth ends to edge Sweden’s Isabella Wranå 5-3. Wranå fell to a 1-2 record.

Steals were also key for South Korea’s Team Eun-Ji Gim (2-1) as they took two in the seventh during a 5-4 win over Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg (1-2).

UP NEXT

The WFG Masters continues with Draw 11 at 3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT on Sportsnet, Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).

NOTES

The WFG Masters is the third event of the 2022-23 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling 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 as teams play four games against opponents outside of their pools. … The top eight teams overall advance to Saturday afternoon’s quarterfinals. The semifinals are set for Saturday evening with both finals on tap for Sunday.