SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Ottawa’s Rachel Homan has qualified for the 18th consecutive time at a Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event.
Homan eased into the Boost National playoffs with a 3-0 record thanks to a 10-2 rout over Allison Flaxey of Caledon during Draw 8 Thursday.
Team Homan third Emma Miskew said it’s pretty cool having advanced 18 times in 18 appearances in the series although the number actually wasn’t on her mind.
“We don’t really think about it that way,” Miskew said. “In all of our events, we’re trying to qualify whether it’s a Slam or provincials or any other event. We’ve had a pretty good track record qualifying in any event we’ve played in over the last few years with this team. … We’re not thinking about, ‘Oh we’re going to ruin our record.’ We’re just thinking about playing our game and trying to win all the games we can out there.”
Opening with hammer, the defending champ Homan made an open hit for a deuce in the first. Flaxey sat shot prior to her last in the second, but with a crowded house she wasn’t able to get two and settled for just the single.
Team Homan sweepers Lisa Weagle and Joanne Courtney kept their last down the line in the third for a tap to add another couple points with rocks around the rim of the button. Flaxey looked at two counters with her last in the fourth and made a little tap in for just one.
“It’s nice to start off with hammer for sure. I was peeling and I rolled for a corner and that kind of gave us an opportunity, making sure I got a piece of that guard, and if we rolled over it was pretty good,” Miskew said. “Rachel made a great hit and roll so starting off with a two is always nice. We just put the pressure on enough that we were forcing.”
Flaxey had to take more risks from there and it didn’t work out as Homan cushioned her comfortable lead. Homan capitalized in the fifth when Flaxey’s last went heavy to the back of the 12-foot circle leaving a wide-open draw for three to cushion the lead.
Homan didn’t ease up either and put the pressure on in six as Flaxey wasn’t able to knock out all of the counters she faced, giving up a steal of three, and shook hands.
“Once it was 4-2 they kind of had to take some chances because at that point you have to steal a few points back,” Miskew said. “When they’re taking chances we can capitalize with a bigger end if they make any mistakes and that’s what we did.”
It was a rematch of October’s WFG Masters final where Flaxey defeated Homan to capture her first career Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title.
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Meanwhile, Tour Challenge victor Val Sweeting also qualified at 3-0 holding on with a 5-3 win over Anna Hasselborg of Sweden.
Sweeting was up one with the hammer coming home and faced two counters with her last. She hit one of them out and rolled but just held on for enough of the eight-foot circle to count.
“I had thrown that spot earlier in the game and it really curled if you got off the centre line,” Sweeting said. “I knew that it was a little bit over so it might run a little straighter. It was just a little bit wider, a little bit heavier but luckily it just hung on.”
Sweeting has one more round-robin game to go against recent Canada Cup winner Jennifer Jones on Friday and is looking to maintain the momentum.
“We kind of felt pretty scrappy all season. To be 3-0 it takes that pressure off,” Sweeting said. “We still have lots of work to do. We still want to play well out there. The girls are playing great so it’s just a matter of keeping that going.”
Hasselborg fell to a 1-2 record.
In the men’s division, John Morris and his Vernon, B.C., scored two in eight to lift past Scotland’s David Murdoch 7-6. Morris moved up to a 2-1 record while Murdoch is out of contention at 0-3.
World champ Kevin Koe of Calgary counted three in the final frame to top Toronto’s John Epping 7-5.
Koe climbed to a 2-0 record while Epping now at 2-1.
Edmonton’s Charley Thomas improved to a 2-1 record defeating American John Shuster 5-2. Shuster dropped to 0-2.
NOTES: The Boost National is the third event and second major of the 2016-17 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season. … Round-robin action continues Thursday at 7 p.m. ET with television coverage on Sportsnet ONE. … The Boost National runs through to Sunday afternoon at the Essar Centre.