News Masters

We’re counting down to the 2015 Masters by looking back at the top moments in the history of the event.

This week we’re actually tackling two moments in one rewinding to Team Rachel Homan’s back-to-back title victories at the 2012 and 2013 Masters.

The 2012 tournament — held in Brantford and Paris, Ont. — was the first to expand from a men’s invitational to include a women’s division. Both sides were divided with 18 teams in Tier 1 and 16 teams in Tier 2. While Tier 1 featured a traditional round robin format, Tier 2 teams competed in a triple knockout with two teams joining six Tier 1 teams in the playoffs.

Team Homan ran the table at the tournament, finishing with an overall 8-0 record, capped with an 8-3 victory over Team Chelsea Carey in the final to capture their first career Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling championship.

The Ottawa-based rink of Homan, third Emma Miskew, second Alison Kreviazuk, and lead Lisa Weagle successfully defended the Masters title the following year in Abbotsford, B.C., although it was a different experience.

Homan fell to a 1-2 record in the round robin until she bounced back with a 9-2 win over Satsuki Fujisawa to qualify. Team Homan lost 8-2 to Team Heather Nedohin earlier in the tournament but took the rematch in the quarterfinals 6-3 thanks to a deuce in the seventh and a steal of one in the final end.

Homan scored three in the seventh end to beat Mirjam Ott 6-3 in the semis to set up a clash in the final against Eve Muirhead.

Team Homan snapped a two-all tie with a three-ender in the fourth and held off Team Muirhead during the 7-5 victory to earn their second Masters championship.

Keep it here every Monday as we highlight more moments leading up to the 2015 Masters, running Oct. 27 to Nov. 1 at the Rath Eastlink Community Centre in Truro, N.S.