News Elite 10

CHATHAM-KENT, Ont. — Ottawa’s Rachel Homan and Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland have advanced to the women’s semifinals of the Princess Auto Elite 10.

Homan eliminated Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge, Alta., 2-and-1 (three points to one in seven ends) during the women’s quarterfinals draw Saturday at the soldout Thames Campus Arena.

The seven-time Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title winner Homan now faces Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg in the semifinals. Hasselborg, who is the reigning Olympic gold medallist, completed a comeback victory over Homan in the final round-robin women’s draw Friday to finish preliminary play undefeated with maximum points acquired (4-0-0-0, 12 points) taking the No. 1 to receive a bye.

Homan opened the quarterfinal match with the hammer and converted by taking the first end. Scheidegger made it into the pile with her last but it still looked like she was an inch short. Homan attempted a hit with her last to make sure, but clicked off of a guard. It was a moot point though as out came the measuring stick ruling in favour of Homan.

Scheidegger stole her lone point in the third sitting shot rock under cover at the side of the button. Homan had an opportunity to take the end but her raise attempt was wide leaving Scheidegger’s counter untouched.

Homan came out firing with her first skip stone in four and capitalized after Scheidegger crashed on her own guard and left the door open. That allowed Homan to nestle in her last to count two and reclaim a 1 UP lead.

Scheidegger’s last in the sixth also went haywire as she made a double takeout on two of her own and left her shooter exposed. Homan cashed in on the error by popping it out to count another point.

Scheidegger was on the ropes in the seventh — needing to win the end and steal in eight to force a draw-to-the-button shootout — but Homan couldn’t deliver the knockout with her last as she came up short of the hog line and her rock was removed from play. Still, Scheidegger needed to make a ridiculous raise to win the end and was unable to execute as it went sideways and ran into a Homan guard.

Princess Auto Elite 10: Scores & Standings | Draw Schedule | TV Schedule

Tirinzoni, who plays No. 2 seed Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, stole in the sixth and seventh ends to oust Edmonton’s Laura Walker 3-and-1 (three points to one in seven ends).

Match play rules are in effect at the season-opening Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event where teams compete to win the most ends per game similar to a skins game only without carryovers. Points are scored by either counting two or more rocks (with the hammer) or stealing at least one rock (without the hammer). If the game is tied after eight ends, a draw-to-the-button shootout will determine the winner.

The Princess Auto Elite 10 features three additional unique rules: Stopwatches are banned, tick shots cannot be performed on guards sitting on the centre line until the sixth rock of play, and teams have four minutes of thinking time per end.

Previously a men’s invitational, this is the first year a women’s division has been included at the Princess Auto Elite 10 bringing parity across the seven-event series.

Playoff action continues with the men’s quarterfinals at 4 p.m. ET featuring Calgary’s Kevin Koe vs. Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., (winner plays Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers in the semifinals) and Toronto’s John Epping vs. Glenn Howard of Penetanguishene in an all-Ontario battle (winner plays Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L.) with broadcast coverage on Sportsnet and online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and gsoc.yaretv.com (international).

The men’s and women’s semifinals go down at 8 p.m. ET (Sportsnet 360) with both finals set for Sunday.

NOTES: Winners of the Princess Auto Elite 10 earn $24,000 of the $200,000 prize purse plus berths to the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup taking place April 23-28 in Saskatoon. … Points are also on the line for the Pinty’s Cup, which is awarded to the season champions in the series with a $75,000 bonus for the winners.