Homan tops Sigfridsson in Players’ Championship opener
TORONTO — Ottawa’s Rachel Homan kicked off the Players’ Championship in style Tuesday night with a 10-3 win in seven ends over Margaretha Sigfridsson of Sweden.
The game was the buzz of the draw with Homan facing former teammate Alison Kreviazuk, who is filling in at second on Team Sigfridsson during the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season finale. Kreviazuk, who won back-to-back Masters titles with Homan in 2012 and 2013, parted ways with the rink this past summer as she moved to Sweden.
“It’s weird, obviously, we’ve been playing together since we were 12 but when I’m on the ice I don’t look at opponents so in that particular game I wasn’t really focusing on who we were playing I was just trying to make our shots as a team,” Team Homan third Emma Miskew said. “After the game it was nice to shake her hand but during the game we don’t look at who we’re playing or think about that sort of stuff.”
Homan trailed by one after the second but went on a roll scoring a deuce in the third and stealing pairs of points in four and five to jump ahead 7-2. Sigfridsson settled for a single in the sixth end and Homan counted three in the seventh to ice the game.
“It’s great to start off with a win, they’re a great team too so it feels good to win that one,” Miskew said. “It’s the first game so it’s tough for both teams out there but we capitalized on a couple misses and we’re happy going into the next one like that.”
Elsewhere in Draw 1, Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, Ont., edged Edmonton’s Val Sweeting 5-4. Middaugh scored a deuce in two and stole one in the third for a 3-1 lead, but Sweeting knotted it up with a pair of points in four. The teams kept it knotted up trading singles through the sixth and seventh ends and Middaugh added the winning point with the hammer coming home.
The reigning Masters champion Sweeting sits at the top of the Rogers Grand Slam Cup leaderboard with 19 points.
Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland stole four in the seventh end to complete a 9-5 comeback win over Winnipeg’s Kristy McDonald. McDonald pulled out to an early 4-0 lead with a four-ender in the second, but Tirinzoni battled back with three in the third. The teams alternated singles through the fourth and fifth ends and Tirinzoni tied it with a steal of one in the sixth.
In men’s division action, Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen topped Sven Michel of Switzerland 7-5. McEwen took two in the first but Michel got three in the second to pull ahead. McEwen retook the lead with a three-ender of his own in the third and Michel scored a deuce in four to tie it 5-5. McEwen blanked two consecutive ends before settling for one in the seventh and stole a point in the final end to seal up the victory.
McEwen has already won two Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling titles this season, taking the National and Syncrude Elite 10, as he aims to complete a career Grand Slam.
Calgary’s Kevin Koe rolled out to an 8-2 victory in six ends over Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L. Koe scored two in the second, stole a pair in the fourth and added a four-ender in the sixth to bring out the early handshakes. Gushue has also claimed two Pinty’s Grand Slam titles in 2014-15, winning the Masters and Canadian Open, and is tied with McEwen atop of the standings in the chase for the men’s Rogers Grand Slam Cup.
The Players’ Championship continues Wednesday with Draw 2 action starting at 8:30 a.m. ET.
