News Canadian Open

YORKTON, Sask. — Ottawa’s Rachel Homan advanced to the Canadian Open playoffs after scoring four in the eighth end to lift her team to an 8-7 win over Winnipeg’s Kristy McDonald during Draw 8 action Thursday.

The two-time Masters champion Homan qualified with a 3-0 record through the A-side of the triple knockout preliminary round.

“Every game we get on the ice, we get to develop more as a team and really focus on our habits and our processes,” said Joanne Courtney, who joined Team Homan at second this season. “We’re really excited to be in the playoffs.”

McDonald nailed an incredible triple takeout to score four in the third and grab a 4-1 lead. The teams exchanged pairs of points in four and five and then singles through six and seven as McDonald owned a 7-3 advantage. Homan held the hammer coming home though and capitalized after McDonald missed on her last shot. 

“It was quite intense, we just knew we had to stay really close and the weight was really close,” Courtney said. “We hadn’t thrown a shot out in the wings with softer weight so we really didn’t know if it would run straight or if it would come up so our heart rates were pretty high.”

McDonald (2-1) has two more opportunities to qualify for the playoffs.

Reigning Masters champion Val Sweeting (3-0) advanced through the other A-qualifier with a 5-3 win over Heather Nedohin (2-1) in an all-Edmonton rink match. Sweeting jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a single in the first and a steal of two in the second when Nedohin came up light and tight on the tap attempt with her last. Nedohin blanked the third and earned a deuce in the fourth to close within one. Sweeting regained the three-point lead with a point in five followed by a steal of one in six. Nedohin was limited to a single in the seventh.

In B bracket action, Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones (2-1) stole one in the eighth and another in the extra end to win 9-8 over Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni (1-2).

Edmonton’s Chelsea Carey (2-1) scored two in the third, three in the fifth and closed out with a steal of one in six to win 7-2 over Winnipeg’s Jill Thurston (1-2).

Switzerland’s Binia Feltscher (2-1) fended off a late charge from Regina’s Amber Holland (1-2) and grabbed a single in the final frame to win 5-4. Holland tied the game with a single in six followed by a double steal in seven.