Canada's Team Homan defeats South Korea to advance to women's worlds final
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UIJEONGBU-SI - Rachel Homan's curling team went the distance to reach the final of the women's world championship.
Homan, Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes navigated waves of momentum swings in a 6-5 win in an extra end over South Korea's Eunji Gim in Saturday's semifinal.
The Canadians meet Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni for gold Sunday (3 a.m. ET) in a rematch of last year's final in Sydney, N.S., where Homan downed Tirinzoni 7-5 for the title.
"So excited for us to be in another final. It's great for Canada," Homan said.
Her Ottawa Curling Club foursome aims to be the first Canadian team to repeat as world champions since Sandra Schmirler's team did it in 1993 and 1994.
Canada trailed South Korea 4-3 in the semifinal when Homan produced her first two-point end of the game in the ninth with a tap takeout for a deuce.
In the 10th, Homan executed a tricky double hit — removing a centre-line counter and another on the 12-foot rings — to both hold Gim to one point and take hammer into the extra end.
"I was pretty emotional after that. 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," Homan said. "Thankfully, it did, and it was just a huge moment to keep our chances alive."
The skip didn't have to throw her last stone of the extra end. Gim attempted a double takeout but overcurled and left the winning point in play to seal the victory for Canada.
"Win or lose, we fought out there," Homan said. "We left it all out there and I'm just so proud of the girls.
"It didn't look great the whole time. We knew we had to battle. We had a phenomenal game, and we had to grind that one out right into the extra."
Homan advanced to the semifinal with a 10-4 win over Scotland's Sophie Jackson on Friday night, and avenged an 8-7 loss to the Scots to open the 13-country tournament.
Tirinzoni edged China's Rui Wang 4-2 in a tense, low-scoring semifinal.
After the Swiss struck early with two points in the first end, China blanked the next six before finally countering with a deuce.
The Swiss scored their single in the ninth. A double takeout and a roll to freeze to a Chinese stone in the 10th produced a steal of one to secure the victory.
South Korea and China play for bronze Saturday (9 p.m. ET).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 22, 2025.