TORONTO — Ottawa’s Rachel Homan has locked up the women’s Rogers Grand Slam Cup following an 8-3 victory over Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson during Draw 4 of the Players’ Championship Wednesday afternoon.
Homan scored deuces in the first and third ends and iced the match with a four-ender in the sixth to clinch the overall season title and the $75,000 bonus.
Team Homan were able to clinch the Rogers Grand Slam Cup early thanks to a sensational season winning three consecutive Grand Slam titles this season taking the Masters, National and Canadian Open. They entered the Players’ Championship with a 23-point lead and needed just two wins for the trophy. Team Homan now look to become the first rink to sweep the four majors.
“It’s kind of nice now we can go out to our other games with a little less pressure,” Team Homan third Emma Miskew said. “Obviously when someone tells you that you have to win two games, you think, ‘Okay that’s doable,’ but until you get out there and realize all of these teams are really tough and you really want to get those two wins out of the way.
“Now we can just cruise along. We’ve never won the Players’ Championship so that’s our next goal.”
It was a good day at the office overall for Team Homan as they climbed to a 2-0 record with a 7-3 win over Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ont., earlier Wednesday.
“It’s good to start off with a two-win day,” Miskew said. “They were tough games out there and we’re still learning the ice a little bit. We’re happy to come out with 2-0 and looking forward to tomorrow.”
Einarson settled for a single in the second and took two in the fourth as the Tour Challenge Tier 2 winner now has a 1-1 record.
Five-time Players’ winner Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg also moved up to 2-0 scoring a deuce in the seventh for a 4-2 victory over Alina Paetz of Switzerland.
Meanwhile, Fleury improved to a 1-1 record with a 7-5 comeback victory over reigning Scotties champion Chelsea Carey of Calgary. Fleury scored two in the eighth and stole a pair in the extra end when Carey (0-2) came up light on the draw with her last.
Team Carey are light on the draw as Team Fleury steals 2 in the extra to win 7-5 #GSOC #PlayersChampionship pic.twitter.com/N1CHx2E8hx
— Grand Slam Curling (@grandslamcurl) April 13, 2016
Anna Sidorova (1-0) of Russia edged Edmonton’s Val Sweeting (0-1) with a single in the eighth to win 5-4.
In men’s division action, David Murdoch of Scotland also came from behind with a deuce in eight and a steal of two in the extra to beat American John Shuster 8-6. Murdoch now holds a 1-1 record while Shuster dropped to 0-2.
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NOTES: The Players’ Championship is the fourth major and sixth event of the 2015-16 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season and runs through to Sunday at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre. … Television coverage begins Thursday on Sportsnet. … The Rogers Grand Slam Cup men’s winner has yet to be determined. … Winners of the Players’ Championship earn berths to the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup running April 26 to May 1 in Sherwood Park, Alta.
