The Canadian Press
BEIJING–Rachel Homan and Team Canada have taken sole possession of first place at the women’s world curling championship with a 5-0 record.
Canada opened play today with a 7-5 win over the United States before edging previously-undefeated Switzerland 8-6.
The result put Homan’s rink atop the table while the Swiss rink skipped by Alina Paetz slipped to 4-1.
Canada’s next game is tomorrow against South Korea (2-3).
Against Switzerland, Canada took a 4-1 lead with three in the fourth end, then stole two in the fifth.
The Swiss responded with two in the sixth, a steal of one in the seventh, and two in the ninth.
But it wasn’t enough as Homan and company added two insurance points in the eighth, then protected their lead the rest of the way.
Earlier, the U.S. led 3-1 through four ends.
But a single in the fifth and a deuce in the sixth gave the Canadians their first lead of the day.
“That was the first time we had the lead in that game, so to be able to steal the two points in an even end and take the lead was big,” said lead Lisa Weagle.
The U.S. (1-3) responded with two in the eighth to make it 5-4, but Homan came right back with three in the ninth to seal the victory.
“That was a challenging sheet of ice,” noted Weagle. “We just tried to stay patient and pick up on it as best we could.
“I’ve been struggling a little bit with my weight, so it felt good to make a couple nice draws in that game.”
The Canadian squad started the tournament with victories over China, Germany, and Russia.
The 27-year-old Homan is joined by third Emma Miskew, second Joanne Courtney, and Weagle, along with alternate Cheryl Kreviazuk.
Homan has yet to win a world title after taking bronze and silver in two previous appearances.
She and her crew won the Canadian title in February with an extra-end win over Manitoba’s Michelle Englot, earning Homan a third appearance at the world championship.
Last year, Canada was represented by Calgary skip Chelsea Carey.
Her foursome had to settle for fourth place after dropping the bronze-medal game to Russia.
