News Masters

Let’s take a look back at the previous Masters tournament that ran from Oct. 29 to Nov. 3, 2013, in Abbotsford, B.C.

WOMEN’S DIVISION

The final saw a rivalry that’s on the rise between Ottawa’s Rachel Homan and Eve Muirhead from Scotland. Both teams won Grand Slam titles the previous season with Homan taking home the first women’s Masters tournament while Muirhead, the 2013 world champion, was victorious at the Players’.

Homan’s team ran the table at the 2012 event and looked to repeat but struggled a bit out of the gate opening with a 1-2 record. However, they caught fire from there and won three in a row to reach the final. Muirhead’s team followed an identical path starting 1-2 in the round-robin before winning three straight as well.

The game was all knotted up 2-2 after three ends but Homan pulled away with the hammer in the fourth after Muirhead clipped a guard with her last shot of the end and Homan capitalized on the miss to score three.

Homan held a one-point lead and the hammer in the final end. Muirhead was unable to grab a steal as the team of Homan, Emma Miskew, Alison Kreviazuk and Lisa Weagle earned a 7-5 victory to successfully defend the Masters.

MEN’S DIVISION

The Masters is a fitting name for an event where the final came down to two of the all-time greats: Kevin Martin and Glenn Howard. Like Roger Federer versus Rafael Nadal in tennis, you were in for a treat when Martin and Howard clashed on the rink.

Howard continued his dominance over the event posting an undefeated 7-0 record to earn his sixth Masters title. The front-end duo of Craig Savill and Brent Laing also picked up their sixth Masters win with Howard.

In the finale, the rink from Penetanguishene, Ont., broke a 2-2 tie with a score of four in the fifth end off of an incredible raised takeout and held on to win 7-4.