Nailbiter over South Korea in final
With files from Curling Canada
Team Rachel Homan did what previous Canadian reps could not—score women’s team gold at the Pan Continental Championships.
After bronze medals in 2023 and ’24, Canada is golden after Homan’s nail biting 6-5 extra-end win over Korea’s Eun-ji Kim at Lacombe, Alta.
Entering the 10th end tied at five and without last rock advantage, the Canadians needed precision and patience.
One crucial shot turned the game around. During South Korea’s final second stone, an attempted peel went awry, knocking out their own counter and leaving Canada in the house, guarded.
For Canada’s final shot, Team Homan played a guard to protect their winning point. The guard held, and yet South Korea did face a narrow opening to tap Canada’s stone back for the win.
Team Gim maneuvered their skip’s final throw through the port and tapped back Canada’s stone, but after a measure, Canada had claimed the victory.
“We definitely had to stay together,” Homan said afterward. “We were just a little bit on the wrong side of the inch on a couple of those through the game and kept battling through. We knew it would take 10 ends to beat them and we got a couple mistakes from them late and could capitalize on that.
“(Gim) was really close on her last one. The shot was barely there because she had to throw it light enough to get through that hole, but enough to tap it back. It was a great game by them and it took us every shot to steal the win.”
It was a fine spectacle from the Canadians, the defending world champions, and the South Koreans, who had scored gold at this championship a year ago in Kelowna.
“We’ve never played in this before and we know that Canada hasn’t been in that gold-medal game, so it’s nice to represent Canada, to be here and take home the gold,” said Homan.
The skip lives in nearby Beaumont, Alta. And went home between draws to celebrate Halloween with her family.
Canada led by a single point heading into the fifth-end break but South Korea kept pace, and would overtake Canada late in the game.
Homan scored a single in the seventh and the eighth end saw Team Gim turn the tide. Team Homan’s attempted hit-and-roll missed its mark, giving South Korea an open draw for two and its first lead.
Canada equalized in the ninth with a double takeout for one, sending the game into the 10th end tied, with South Korea holding the hammer.
The finalists now head an hour up the road to Nisku, Alta. for the second Grand Slam of Curling event of the season, the Co-Op Canadian Open, starting Tues. Nov. 5.
China’s Rui Wang defeated Japan’s Miyu Ueono 7-3 in the women’s bronze game.
Canada had defeated China 6-5 in an extra end in one semifinal, while Korea upended Japan 7-6 in the other semi.
Canada went 7-0 in the round-robin, with Japan second at 6-1, Korea at 5-2 and China at 4-3.
USA’s Tabitha Peterson finished fifth at 3-4, New Zealand’s Chelsea Suddens went 2-5, Mexico’s Adriana Camarena finished 1-6 and Chinese Taipei’s Ko Yang placed last at 0-7.