CAMROSE, Alta. — Ottawa’s Rachel Homan has brought her A-game to the Meridian Canadian Open.
The reigning world champion and soon-to-be Olympian qualified through the A-side of the triple knockout at 3-0 after defeating Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson 7-3 in Draw 9 Thursday.
Although it’s a home event for Team Homan second Joanne Courtney, who is from Edmonton, she still had to fly in from Toronto as her team was competing in the Continental Cup this past weekend in London, Ont.
“We were straight from the Continental Cup so that was a nice way to come back after Christmas,” Courtney said. “We all took a little bit of a break to refuel and recharge so we’ve got to get back into the swing of things and it’s nice to be in a competitive environment. The five-rock rule is awesome for us because we get to work on our soft-weight shots a lot more than the four-rock rule. We’re excited to be here and really happy to qualify.”
Courtney also said it’s great to have a tournament so close to home as it means spending more time with family.
“My family has been able to come to every game. It’s only about 45 minutes to an hour from Edmonton. The weather has been nice so it’s nice to see my parents and my sister came up from Calgary yesterday,” she said. “I think I qualified for my first-ever junior provincial in Camrose so I always love coming to Camrose.”
After a blank in the first, Homan faced three counters in the second and doubled two out to take a single. Einarson had to settle for a point in the third to tie it 1-1 when she attempted to hit and roll out on a blank attempt, however, her shooter came down on the nose and stayed in the house.
Homan looked at making a risky in-off hit for a multiple score in the fourth to pull away big time but rolled under Einarson’s shot rock to instead give up a steal.
The teams alternated singles in five and six until Einarson fell into deep trouble in seven and Homan piled the rocks in the house to ice the game with a five count.
“It was a very close game. The surface was a little bit different from yesterday so I think it took both teams a little bit to catch on,” Courtney said. “We had a really good chance in the fourth end and we just missed that in-off so we just kept plugging away. We were trying to manage the scoreboard properly. We were hoping for a blank the seventh but it got a little messy and it turned out it went our way. We’re happy with the win and pumped to qualify.”
Team Homan doesn’t hit the ice again until Saturday’s quarterfinals but they’ll still be hard at work preparing for the playoffs.
“We’ll take the rest,” Courtney said. “Hopefully, we’ll get a practice in and watch some games, see what the ice is doing and then we’ll be ready for Saturday.”
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The Meridian Canadian Open features a triple knockout preliminary format where teams must win three games before they lose three in order to qualify for the weekend playoffs. Eight teams advance in both men’s and women’s divisions.
Einarson (2-1) has two more chances to qualify and will now play Jennifer Jones in the B-finals. Jones defeated Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland 6-4 to set up the all-Winnipeg match.
The nine-time Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling champion has bounced back in the B-side after losing her opening game in a rematch of the Manitoba Scotties final against Darcy Robertson. Jones (2-1) beat Casey Scheidegger 5-4 Thursday scoring a deuce in the final end.
“It feels great,” Jones said. “I missed my last one against Darcy Robertson to win so it was really disappointing and then coming out and having two good games against two really good teams feels good.”
Shannon Birchard, who is alternating with Team Jones third Kaitlyn Lawes, was back in the lineup for this afternoon’s game. Birchard will fill in during the Scotties Tournament of Hearts as Lawes is off to represent Canada in mixed doubles with John Morris at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Jones had high praise for the 23-year-old Birchard, who is a two-time Canadian junior finalist from Winnipeg.
“She’s so great on the ice. You can never replacement Kaitlyn but Shannon has been outstanding,” Jones said. “It’s been a lot easier than I thought it would be so we’re really excited to have her next week.”
Jones captured the Players’ Championship last season and the Masters and BOOST National titles in the fall as she looks to complete a “Tiger Slam” by claiming the Meridian Canadian Open and holding all four major titles at once.
Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Ont., also qualified through the A event toppling Michelle Englot’s Winnipeg team 9-4. The 2015 Masters champion Flaxey broke a 4-4 tie with a deuce in six and secured her playoff spot stealing three in seven.
Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers doubled up on Niklas Edin of Sweden 8-4 in a men’s B battle.
Chang-Min Kim of South Korea scored two in the eighth to oust China’s Rui Liu 5-4 in the C-side.
Sixteen of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s team from around the world are competing in the fourth tournament — and third major — of the 2017-18 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season.
Action continues at Encana Arena with Draw 10 at 8 p.m. MT on Sportsnet and online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) or gsoc.yaretv.com (international).
NOTES: Winners of the Meridian Canadian Open earn berths to the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup running April 24-29 at Calgary’s WinSport Arena. … Points are also up for grabs for the Bonus Cup, awarded to the overall season champions.