Swiss defeated for first time since 2018

[With files from World Curling]

Canada’s Team Homan won a spectacular display of power curling over Switzerland to capture the 2024 world women’s championship.

A packed Centre 200 arena of 4,000 spectators in Sydney, N.S. cheered the home team’s 7-5 victory as Canada returned to top spot on the women’s team podium for the first time since 2018.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Canada skip Rachel Homan after the match. “We battled so hard out there, Switzerland played a phenomenal game. We stuck with them right to the end.”

Early on it appeared that nothing could stop the Swiss, in particular fourth thrower Alina Pätz, but the Canadians did stick close. Swiss leads of 2-1 and 4-2 were matched and the score was knotted at 4-4 at the break.

Through it all, both teams alternated big-weight hits with delicate freezes and taps—a powerful finish to a world championship marked by strong shotmaking.

“We had to keep the score close, the Swiss were outplaying us,” said Homan.

Two Swiss blanks later, Pätz and skip Silvana Tirinzoni were forced to a single point. That set up the fateful ninth end, where Homan chose a delicate split attempt on her last stone and made it perfectly, scoring three points for a 7-5 lead.

Two Swiss stones sat fully in the 12-foot rings, lying second and third, making the split all the more difficult.

“That was an unbelievable sweep on that split for three, and that was the game right there,” said Homan. “I’m just so proud of my team. Just a phenomenal team shot.”

In the final end, Switzerland’s draw throws came unglued and the defending champs couldn’t finesse a shot for the tying deuce. Canada were champions.

Homan and longtime teammate Emma Miskew also won the 2017 world championship, while third Tracy Fleury and lead Sarah Wilkes won their first title.

The match ended Pätz and Tirinzoni’s run of four consecutive world championships. Lead Carole Howald shared in last year’s title while this marked the first world championship appearance for Swiss second Selina Witschonke.

The Canadians, who ran the table at their national championship, scored a 12-1 won/loss record on the week, while Switzerland finished 11-3.

Team Homan have lost only six games all season, which compares to the incredible run of some fellow Ontarians over 30 years earlier—Russ Howard, Glenn Howard, Wayne Middaugh and Peter Corner back in 1993.

Earlier Sunday, Korea’s Un-Chi Gim defeated Italy’s Stefania Constantini 6-3 to capture the bronze medals, Gim’s first podium showing in five world championship appearances.

Canada and Switzerland were victorious over Korea and Italy, respectively, in Saturday night’s semifinal round.

The final records and placement of teams ranked fifth through 13th can be read at the end of this story.

The championship’s Frances Brodie Sportsmanship Award, voted on by the competitors themselves, was awarded to Italian front-ender Angela Romei.

The world’s top women’s and men’s four-player teams will gather for the final rodeo of the 2023-24 season, Apr. 9-14 at the Players’ Championship in Toronto.