Fleury faces Homan for women’s National title

Grand Slam of Curling correspondent Jon Brazeau has a quick convo with Northern Ontario skip Tracy Fleury about bringing on Crystal Webster and what makes her squad special and fun.

OSHAWA, Ont. — It’s going to be a Battle of Ontario for the inaugural women’s title at the National with Tracy Fleury set to face Rachel Homan in the final.

Fleury, of Sudbury, Ont., punched her ticket to her first career Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling final after capitalizing on some lucky breaks against Edmonton’s Val Sweeting to score a 9-1 victory during Saturday night’s semis.

“We’re super-excited,” Fleury said with a smile. “We’re really looking forward to tomorrow’s game.”

Watch the women’s final live Sunday at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT on Sportsnet

Sweeting opened with hammer but struggled early conceding a steal of one in the second and then fell in a deep hole giving up a five-count in the third.

“We put a lot of pressure on them in the third end and they just really had one bad end,” Fleury said. “Then they had to start gambling so it was just that kind of game.”

Sweeting looked to bounce back for two in the fourth but her shooter rolled too far and wasn’t close enough for second. Fleury made an open hit for three in the fifth to bring out the handshakes.

Fleury fell in her opening game to EunJung Kim of South Korea but has now won five straight.

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Meanwhile, Homan, from Ottawa, continued her undefeated streak at the National, extending her record to 6-0 with a 5-3 win over Saskatoon’s Stefanie Lawton.

Homan scored a deuce in the fourth end to go ahead and added a steal in five to make it 4-2. Lawton settled for a single in six, Homan blanked the seventh and added another point coming home.

Team Homan holds a 19-1 win-loss record in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling series this season and the two-time Scotties champion won her third Masters title in four years just two weeks ago.

The National is the third stop — and second major — of the 2015-16 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season. Previously a men’s invitational, the National expanded this year to include a women’s division for the first time in the event’s history.

Watch the men’s final between Brad Gushue of St. John’s and Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers on Sunday at noon ET / 9 a.m. PT on CBC.

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