'Proud' Canada Homan v. Switzerland Tirinzoni: Final set for epic worlds curling final

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The heavyweight rematch is on for the world title at the 2025 LGT World Women’s Curling Championship …

Homan v. Tirinzoni II …

Canada v. Switzerland …

In another fight for the right to be crowned queen of the pebbled ice — this time in Uijeongbu, South Korea.

And, really, does it come as a surprise to anyone?

It shouldn’t, given the juggernaut success of Rachel Homan and her Canadian crew — including their capture of the world honour last winter — and the record run of Silvana Tirinzoni and her Swiss squad in scoring the four such titles ahead of Canada’s triumph a year ago.

So both boast historic recency heading into Saturday’s finale at Uijeongbu Indoor Ice Rink (3 a.m. ET, TSN).

“Win or lose, we fought out there,” said Homan, praising teammates Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes. “We left it all out there, and I’m just so proud of the girls. So excited for us to be in another final.

“It’s great for Canada.”

So is the head-to-head history with Tirinzoni and her Swiss mates — fourth Alina Paetz, second Carole Howald and lead Selina Witschonke.

The squad from Aarau, Switzerland, hasn’t had a whole lot of luck against Homan this year. Including Wednesday’s round-robin decision — a 7-6 heavyweight bout to hand the Swiss their first loss of these worlds — Homan is a whopping 9-1 in meetings with Tirinzoni since the start of the 2023-24 curling season.

And it was Homan & Co. taking down Tirinzoni in the 7-5 final at last year’s worlds in Sydney, N.S. Two spectacular shots by the superstar skip from Ottawa proved to be the difference — her first was a “rocket double” to sit three, and the second was a split of her own guard to roll both it and the shooter into the house to out-count the Swiss stones for a dynamic three.

“If you look at those games, it came down to millimetres and inches here and there,” said Homan, of her recent history with the Swiss skip. “So I don’t think the record speaks to how big the battles are that we have against each other.”

This one will be as big as it gets — again.

“We can’t wait to stress out family members out, as I’m sure they’re going to watch it from End 1,” continued Homan, whose crew in South Korea also includes alternate Rachelle Brown and national coaches Viktor Kjell and Renée Sonnenberg. “So it’s not going to be fun watching.

“But I think they’re going to be super pumped.”

It was Saturday’s gutty 6-5 semifinal win — in an extra end — over Korea’s Gim Eun-ji (10-3) that put Canada (12-2) into the final.

With hammer in the extra frame, Canada did not need to throw its final stone. South Korea skip Gim attempted a double take-out but overcurled and left the winning point in play, sealing the victory for Canada.

Meanwhile in the other semi, Switzerland — which finished first in the standings after an 11-1 round-robin — edged China’s Wang Rui (8-6) 4-2 in a tense, low-scoring contest.

So that sets up another expected epic finale between the superstar squad, with the team repping the Ottawa Curling Club aiming to become Canada’s first to repeat as world champs since Sandra Schmirler’s side did it in 1993 and ’94.

HOW CANADA BEAT KOREA IN THE SEMI

Victory was far from certain, with momentum swinging between the two sides. Canada’s final push came in the ninth end, turning the tide against the same Korean team it defeated in last year’s semifinal.

Trailing by one, Canada couldn’t afford to be forced in the ninth and instead set up for two after a Korean hit over-curled and missed its target.

In the 10th, Canada made a nervy double takeout — a centre-line stone redirected into another in the side 12-foot — to force Korea to a single and send the game to an extra end. A miss would have handed Gim the win.

“I was pretty emotional after that,” admitted Homan. “It was huge for us and huge for Canada. We wanted to make that, and I didn’t know if it was going to stop falling.

“Thankfully, it did, and it was just a huge moment to keep our chances alive.”

Korea opened with hammer and blanked the first end, but Canada turned up the pressure in the second. The Canadians clustered stones in the four-foot circle, and Gim’s runback attempts either missed entirely or jammed. That allowed Homan to use her final two shots to guard for a steal. Korea was left with a tough in-off double to score or limit the damage — and executed just enough to cut Canada’s potential steal of three down to one.

Everything went Canada’s way in the third end — until Homan’s final shot. Attempting a soft-weight hit to sit as many as four, Canada clipped the centre guard, leaving Korea with a draw for two. It was one of the only major Canadian misses all game, with the team shooting 91% in the contest.

Canada missed a chance for more in the fourth end, choosing a draw along a fresh, wide path that came up light and resulted in a single. But the team bounced back in the fifth, forcing Korea to a single.

Korea returned the favour in the sixth, holding Canada to one before blanking the seventh and scoring a single in the eighth for a one-point lead into the final two ends of regulation.

“It didn’t look great the whole time — we knew we had to battle,” added Homan. “I had a tough pick early that cost us and gave them two, but we stuck with it. We had a phenomenal game, and we had to grind that one out right into the extra. I’m just really proud of my team for sticking with it and keep trying to make the next shot.”

EXTRA ENDS

In the Swiss semi win over China, Swiss struck early with two in the first end, while China blanked the next six to keep it tight. Wang pulled even with a deuce and forced Switzerland to a single in the ninth, appearing poised for the win — until Tirinzoni & Co. executed a double and roll to freeze, setting up a game-winning steal … South Korea and China will play for the bronze medal late Saturday (9 p.m. ET, TSN).

tsaelhof@postmedia.com

http://www.x.com/ToddSaelhof