Homan eliminates Einarson in Co-op Canadian Open quarterfinals

NISKU, Alta. — Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan ousted Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., 7-5 during the women’s quarterfinals of the Co-op Canadian Open at the Silent Ice Center.

It was a rematch, but not a repeat, of last month’s HearingLife Tour Challenge women’s final where Einarson upended Homan to capture her sixth career Grand Slam of Curling women’s title.

Joanne Courtney was subbing for Team Einarson second Shannon Birchard, who is recovering from a knee injury. Courtney, from Edmonton, won eight Grand Slam titles with Team Homan before stepping back from competitive curling in 2022.

Homan, who posted a perfect 4-0 in round-robin play, rolled away early with a count of three points in the first end, limited Einarson to a single in the second, and took two more points in the third for a 5-1 lead.

Einarson cut the deficit in half with a deuce in the fourth, held Homan to a single in the fifth, and counted another couple of points in the sixth to close within one.

Homan added a single in the seventh and the two-point advantage was enough as she made a double takeout on her last in the eighth end to run Einarson out of rocks and out of the tournament.

The 15-time Grand Slam title winner and defending champion Homan will face South Korea’s Team Seung-Youn Ha in the semifinals.

Ha scored two points in the eighth end to defeat Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa 6-4.

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The other semifinal will see South Korea’s Team Eun-jung Kim play Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni.

Kim counted three in the eighth end to eliminate Winnipeg’s Team Chelsea Carey 8-5 and Tirinzoni scored four in the eighth to beat Italy’s Team Stefania Constantini 7-4.

Earlier Saturday, Einarson topped Edmonton’s Team Selena Sturmay 8-6, Carey clipped Winnipeg’s Team Kaitlyn Lawes 4-3 and Tirinzoni topped Japan’s Team Sayaka Yoshimura 6-2 in the tiebreaker draw to advance to the playoffs.

UP NEXT

Playoff action continues with the men’s quarterfinals at 6 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. MT on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet+.

Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat plays Team Matt Dunstone of Winnipeg, Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., goes up against Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin, Calgary’s Team Brad Jacobs clashes with Team Yannick Schwaller of Switzerland and Italy’s Team Joël Retornaz takes on Scotland’s Team Ross Whyte.

The men’s and women’s semifinals are slated for 10 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. MT on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet+.

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