OAKVILLE, Ont. -- Ottawa's Team Rachel Homan drew for the winning single in the extra end to beat Team Tracy Fleury of East St. Paul, Man., 6-5 Wednesday morning in the Masters at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.
Homan (2-0) advanced to the A Event finals of the triple knockout preliminary round.
"I think the team’s been playing really well and picking up on the ice," Homan said. "Sweepers are phenomenal and just lots of great team shots out there. Fleury played amazing and we needed every one of our shots to win that game."
Tied 3-3 at the break, Homan raised her stone that was already in the house but was unable to outcount Fleury's shot rock and gave up a point in the fifth end. Homan was held to a single in the sixth but turned the tables with a steal in the seventh. Fleury bumped and rolled off of Homan's shot rock gave up a point after a measure. The defending Masters women's champion Fleury could only draw for one point in the eighth end to force the extra.
The Masters was cancelled last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two GSOC events were held in the Calgary bubble in April that was closed to the public and this is the first major tournament with fans back in the stands.
"It’s been really great to have family here and get to enjoy the event with our crew," said Homan, whose family made the trip down from Ottawa.
Two-time reigning world champions Team Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland also moved up to a 2-0 record and into the A finals. Tirinzoni had a strong start and held on to beat Japan's Team Satsuki Fujisawa 8-7.
After Tirinzoni scored three points in the first and third ends to lead 6-2, Fujisawa rallied with a deuce in the fourth and a steal of two in the fifth to knot it up. The teams alternated singles in the sixth and seventh ends and Tirinzoni scored the winning point in the eighth.
Both Fleury and Fujisawa hold 1-1 records and dropped into the B Event semifinals.
Meanwhile, Edmonton's Team Kelsey Rocque (1-1) picked up their first win of the tournament defeating Japan's Team Sayaka Yoshimura 6-5 in the B Event.
Team Min-Ji Kim (1-1) also moved into the win column doubling up on Team Un-Chi Gim 8-4 in a matchup between South Korean clubs.
Yoshimura and Gim, both at 0-2, dropped to the C Event and are on the brink of elimination.
Triple knockout play at the Masters continues with Draw 6 at Noon ET.
TRIPLE KNOCKOUT EXPLAINED
The triple knockout consists of three brackets: A, B and C. All teams started in A and must win three games in order to qualify for the playoffs. Each loss drops a team to a lower bracket until they lose three games and are eliminated from the tournament. Two A teams (3-0 records), three B teams (3-1 records) and three C teams (3-2 records) advance to the quarterfinals.
NOTES
The Masters is the first of five events on the 2021-22 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling schedule and features 16 of the top men's teams and 16 of the top women's teams from around the world. ... Triple knockout is used for preliminary play — where teams must win three games before they lose three in order to qualify for the playoffs — and runs through to Saturday morning. The quarterfinals and semifinals are also Saturday with both finals set for Sunday. ... Broadcast coverage begins Thursday at 11 a.m. ET on Sportsnet, Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).
