THUNDER BAY – Mission accomplished for the Rachel Homan rink.
Team Homan capped off a perfect week in Thunder Bay, capturing the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling Tour Challenge title with an 8-4 victory in the championship final over the Tracy Fleury-led squad at the Thunder Bay Tournament Centre on Sunday afternoon.
Coming into the third event year on the Grand Slam of Curling circuit without a trophy after a loss in the semifinals at the Elite 10 and then a finals loss at the Masters last month, Homan was happy to finish this one off after running the table in group play and following it up with two playoff wins to reach the final.
“The team played so well. I’m so proud of them,” Homan said. “All week we didn’t really have a blemish so it was a great, strong week by our team.”
The win is the eighth career Grand Slam tour trophy for the Homan rink, placing them only behind Jennifer Jones on the all-time list.
Homan, whose team represented Canada at the Winter Olympics earlier this year, showed why she is one of the best in the world, shooting at an 85 per cent clip in the final and third Emma Miskew finished with a shooting percentage of 80 per cent.
Fleury, the Sudbury native now leading a team based out of Manitoba, also entered the final with an undefeated record.
In the first year with her new squad, Fleury was happy with how they came together during the week but said they weren’t quite as sharp as they had been earlier in the tournament.
“It definitely felt good to get on a roll, especially because we’re new and it seems like after each event we keep getting a little better,” Fleury said.
Homan was given a gift in the first when Fleury had chance to hit for two but her shooter spilled just outside of the rings, forcing her to settle for single.
“I really wanted that one,” Fleury said. “In the first end, sometimes you’re not quite sure what the ice is doing yet and unfortunately we just rolled out. Yeah, I want that one back.”
Team Fleury then looked to put on pressure in the second end but Homan, facing a house full of Fleury rocks, nailed a triple takeout with her first that she said allowed her to think that they might be able to score with hammer.
Homan followed it up with a double on her last to come away with three.
“It was a really great finish to that rough looking end for a while,” Homan said. “It was definitely big getting that three after we were able to force them.”
After a Homan steal that increased the lead to 4-1, Fleury faced trouble in the fourth but was able to draw down to the four-foot to salvage one to stay in the match.
Homan increased the margin in the fifth, choosing to be aggressive. She feathered her first past a guard and then when Fleury couldn’t get her last buried, tapped it back to score three and coming just inches shy of putting four on the board.
“Even with the situation and the score, we were OK with giving up one so we knew we could really go for it,” Homan said. “It was a good opportunity to take the lead.”
Fleury earned a deuce in the sixth to bring the score to 7-4 but the Homan squad didn’t flinch, getting a single in the seventh and running Team Fleury out of rocks in the eighth.
The Tier 2 final came down to the last rock in the final end, with fourth Briar Huerlimann converting on the draw for Switzerland’s Team Stern to defeat Japan’s Sayaka Yoshimura 6-5.
