THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Canada to play for gold at World Women’s Curling Championship after win over Korea

Team Canada will play for the chance to be crowned women’s curling champions of the world on Sunday against Switzerland.

In a thrilling final, Canada defeated Korea 9-7 in the semifinal of the Women’s World Curling Championship in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Team Homan, made up of captain Rachel Homan, vice-captain Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew, lead Sarah Wilkes and alternate Rachel Brown, suffered its only defeat in the tournament yesterday against the same Korean team by a score of 6-5.

In the rematch, Canada initially took a 2-0 lead after the second end before seeing the Korea respond with three points in the third. The two teams then exchanged points in the middle ends, before Canada won it with three points in the tenth and final end.

Team Homan took down Switzerland 8-5 when the two teams squared off in the round robin on Tuesday. They will be in tough against the Swiss team as they are the four-time defending world champions.

Canada skip Rachel Homan calls a shot in World Women’s Curling Championship action against South Korea in Sydney, N.S. on Friday, March 22, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Gold medal or not, with a top six finish, Team Homan has guaranteed their spot at the Canadian Women’s Curling Trials which will take place in November 2025 and will determine Team Canada’s representatives for Milano Cortina 2026.

Tomorrow’s match against Switzerland will take place at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Canada clinches playoff spot thanks to stellar round robin performance

With two full days of round robin games still to be played, Team Canada is into the playoffs at the World Women’s Curling Championship in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

That’s what happens when you win your first eight games.

On Wednesday night, Canada – represented by skip Rachel Homan, vice-skip Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew, lead Sarah Wilkes, and alternate Rachel Brown – kept its win streak alive with a come-from-behind victory. They scored five in the 10th end to defeat Türkiye 9-5.

Down 5-4 heading into the final end, Homan had no room for error on her last two throws against a two-win Turkish team that had proven to be a challenge. She gave full credit to her sweepers for being able to make the back-to-back runbacks that were needed.

Earlier in the day, Canada had defeated Japan 7-2 to remain undefeated after two huge wins on Tuesday. Homan and company had had to face the tournament’s two other undefeated teams. By the end of Tuesday, Canada stood alone at the top of the standings with a spotless record.

First came an 8-7 win against Italy in the morning draw. But there were plenty more headlines after the nighttime draw against Switzerland. The Swiss – led by skip Silvana Tirinzoni and last-rock thrower Alina Paetz – have won the last four world titles while accumulating a record 42 straight wins. That streak came to an end as Team Homan earned the 8-5 victory.

Four women curlers in red Canada uniforms hold their brooms up as they wave to the crowd
Canada’s Tracy Fleury, left to right, Sarah Wilkes, Rachel Homan, and Emma Miskew acknowledge the crowd following their win over Switzerland during World Women’s Curling Championship action in Sydney, N.S. on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

The Canadians had opened the home worlds on Saturday with a 7-6 win over Sweden followed by a 7-4 victory against Denmark. They played just one game on Sunday which ended up as a 10-6 win over the United States. Monday was also a one-game day as they triumphed 9-4 over Norway.

The next goal is to finish the preliminary round as one of the top two teams to secure a spot directly in the semifinals.

Canada has four games left to play as they face Estonia (1-7) and New Zealand (1-7) on Thursday before finishing up against Scotland (3-6) and Korea (6-2) on Friday.

The semifinals will be played at 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday. The teams ranked third to sixth after the round robin will have playoff qualification games earlier in the day to see who advances into the semis.

The bronze medal game will be played at 10:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, with the gold medal game at 4:00 p.m. ET.

With a top-six finish guaranteed, Team Homan have also secured themselves a spot in the four-player Canadian Curling Trials that will take place in November 2025 and determine who will be Team Canada at Milano Cortina 2026.