Homan holds off Hasselborg for first win at Players’ Championship
TORONTO — Rachel Homan and her Ottawa-based club picked up their first victory in the Princess Auto Players’ Championship on Wednesday morning.
Homan stole two points in the sixth end plus another pair in the eighth to fend off Anna Hasselborg’s squad from Sweden 6-3 during Draw 5 action at Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Team Homan improved to a 1-1 record in the B Event of the triple knockout preliminary round while Team Hasselborg (0-2) dropped to the C Event and must win their next game Thursday in order to remain in the tournament.
The triple knockout preliminary round consists of three brackets: A, B and C. Teams must win three games in order to qualify for the playoffs. Each loss drops a team to a lower bracket until they lose three games and are out of the tournament. Two A teams (3-0 records), three B teams (3-1 records) and three C teams (3-2 records) advance to the quarterfinals.
Germany’s Team Daniela Jentsch thumped Team Mackenzie Zacharias of Altona, Man., 9-1 in only five ends during B Event action.
Jentsch jumped into the lead with a deuce in the third then stole three in the fourth and four in the fifth leading to handshakes. It was the first top-tier GSOC win for Team Jentsch (1-1) while Team Zacharias (0-2) fell to the C side.
Meanwhile, Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., scored two in the eighth end to top Team Krista McCarville of Thunder Bay, Ont., 4-2 in a repeat of this year’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts final.
The double defending champion Einarson (2-0) advanced to the A Event finals and just needs one more victory to qualify for the playoffs.
Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni (2-0) also moved onto the A Event finals after sprinting to a 7-1 victory over Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa.
The three-time reigning world champion Tirinzoni scored a deuce in the second to take the lead, rolled out with back-to-back double steals in the third and fourth then swiped another point in the fifth end as Fujisawa called the game early.
McCarville and Fujisawa both hold 1-1 as they slide into the B brackets.
UP NEXT
The Princess Auto Players’ Championship continues with Draw 6 at Noon ET.
BROADCAST INFO
Broadcast coverage of the Princess Auto Players’ Championship begins Thursday at Noon ET / 9 a.m. PT on Sportsnet, Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).
NO TICK ZONE
Teams cannot tick guards off of the centre line while the five-rock, free guard zone is in effect. Following an infraction of the rule, the non-offending team may decide to leave the situation as is.
NOTES
The Princess Auto Players’ Championship is the third event of the 2021-22 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 with a combined $350,000 prize purse. Winning teams earn $35,000. … The Pinty’s Cup will also be awarded to the season champions following the conclusion of the Princess Auto Players’ Championship. Winners of the Pinty’s Cup receive $50,000 bonuses. … Tickets are available at thegrandslamofcurling.com/tickets.
