Muirhead tops Homan for inaugural Canadian Open women’s title
YORKTON, Sask. — Eve Muirhead of Scotland captured the inaugural Canadian Open women’s championship after defeating Ottawa’s Rachel Homan 5-3 in Sunday’s final.
It’s the second Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title for Muirhead, third Anna Sloan and second Vicki Adams and first with lead Sarah Reid, who joined the club this season. The new-look Team Muirhead bounced back after missing the playoffs last month at the Masters to start the 2014-15 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season.
“It’s been a tough season for us, not just being fluid as well as we want to be,” Sloan said. “But it’s a new team also and we’re still young so it’s good to grind it out and get the win here.”
Muirhead, who earned $25,000 CAD, held the hammer coming home leading by one but had to pull off a tricky come-around shot while facing three Homan counters to grab shot rock and avoid giving up either a steal to tie it and force an extra end or lose the championship outright.
“We knew we had to come out and play really well against Team Homan, they’re such a great solid team, and we did that,” Team Muirhead third Anna Sloan said. “We just piled the pressure on and it just worked. It was our day today.”
The two-time Masters champion Homan entered the final undefeated at 5-0 and opened with the hammer. It was Muirhead who struck the scoreboard first, however, applying that aforementioned pressure to steal two in the second and swipe a 2-0 lead. That was the only multiple point end of the match with singles back and forth to the final frame.
The third and final women’s Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event is the Players’ Championship, running April 7-12 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto. The series resumes with the inaugural Elite 10 men’s tournament, March 19-22, in Fort McMurray, Alta.
Earlier, Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., edged Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock 6-5 to capture the Canadian Open men’s title.
