Homan, Kim rolling into playoffs undefeated at KIOTI National
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan and Team Eun-jung Kim of South Korea kept their unbeaten streaks intact in the KIOTI National.
Both clubs had already qualified for the playoffs and needed to come from behind to claim their fourth straight victories during the final women’s round-robin draw Friday afternoon at the Mary Brown’s Centre to take unblemished records into the quarterfinals.
Team Homan defeated Sweden’s Team Isabella Wranå 11-6 while Team Kim picked up a 5-3 win over Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man.
Homan posted a perfect record through the Co-op Canadian Open at the start of the month in Nisku, Alta., to win a record-extending 16th Grand Slam of Curling women’s title and will look to match that run.
“It feels good,” Team Homan second Emma Miskew said. “It’s always going to be a little bit of a grind. Different days and different draw times we had different ice conditions, so it was kind of like starting fresh every game.
“We’re definitely making enough shots to win games, and getting a little bit better every game, and we’re hoping to keep that rolling into the playoffs.”
Team Homan needed two points in the eighth end but why not score six for fun? Wranå couldn’t get the freeze on her last and Homan was able to pop it out for the huge count.
“We were able to spread our rocks out pretty nicely early, which is great,” Homan said. “Then after that, through the hole a few times and then your rocks just pile up on the side.
“We were really hoping that she wasn’t going to weld that freeze on there because then we were definitely going to be forced, but it was nice to come out with the win.”
Wrana missed the playoffs at 1-3.
Meanwhile, Kim stole back-to-back single points in the seventh and eighth ends to edge Einarson, who already earned a playoff berth and sustained her first loss of the week at 3-1.
KIOTI NATIONAL: DRAW SCHEDULE / RESULTS | STANDINGS | BROADCAST SCHEDULE
Japan’s Team Sayaka Yoshimura beat Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni 6-4 and South Korea’s Team Eun-ji Gim edged Japan’s Team Momoha Tabata 5-4 elsewhere in the draw.
Yoshimura, Tirinzoni and Gim finished with 2-2 records to get stuck in a traffic jam in the standings with Halifax’s Team Christina Black and Team Seung-youn Ha of South Korea for the final three playoff spots.
Yoshimura advanced straight through to the quarterfinals based on draw-to-the-button shootout totals with Gim vs. Black and Ha vs. Tirinzoni set for Saturday morning tiebreakers.
Tabata (1-3) was eliminated from the tournament.
Einarson will play Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa (3-1) and Homan faces Yoshimura in the quarterfinals while Kim and Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg (4-0) await the tiebreaker winners.
UP NEXT
Round-robin play wraps up at 8 p.m. NT / 6:30 p.m. ET. Watch live on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet+.
Live streaming of every game is available on free preview via HomeTeam.
NOTES
The KIOTI National is the third Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … The top eight teams in both divisions advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals. … The semifinals are also scheduled for Saturday with both finals on tap Sunday.
