ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Canada’s Rachel Homan and Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg have been battling on the ice ever since juniors a decade-and-a-half ago. Sunday will mark their 28th head-to-head meeting in women’s play, but the first this season and what a game it’s going to be.
Homan and Hasselborg are set to face off for the KIOTI National women’s championship with both teams carrying unblemished 6-0 records into the final at the Mary Brown’s Centre.
The win-loss tally may suggest Homan has been cruising comfortably, however, Saturday was a grind with her team going to distance, and then some, in both playoff games.
Homan needed to steal in the extra end to escape with a 7-6 win over Japan’s Team Sayaka Yoshimura during the quarterfinals. The reigning world champion at least had the hammer for the extra end against South Korea’s Team Eun-jung Kim in the semis and drew to the back of the four-foot circle while facing a bunch to win 7-6 once more.
Team Homan improved to an incredible 39-2 record on the season, including 13 consecutive games through the Grand Slam of Curling series. Homan rolled through the Co-op Canadian Open at the start of the month in Nisku, Alta., to capture a record-extending 15th Grand Slam women’s title.
Hasselborg wasn’t at that event, opting to focus on training for the European Championships, which the squad settled for a silver medal at last week. Team Hasselborg was also missing second Agnes Knochenhauer for the HearingLife Tour Challenge in October as she was attending her sister’s wedding and serving as the toast madame.
Hasselborg also needed overtime to settle a 7-6 decision against Canada’s Team Christina Black in the quarterfinals and earned a 7-1 victory over Canada’s Team Kerri Einarson in the semifinals.
For Hasselborg, it'll be her first Grand Slam final since winning the 2022 Players’ Championship, and becoming the first women’s skip to complete a career Grand Slam.
Meanwhile, it’ll be the sixth final through seven events in the series for Homan.
On the men's side, Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat will play in its third consecutive Grand Slam final while aiming for a third straight title as well.
Mouat (5-1) avenged an early round-robin defeat to Team John Shuster of the United States with a 7-2 victory in the quarterfinals and handed Canada’s Team Mike McEwen its first and only loss the week with a 5-1 decision.
Although Mouat defeated Team Brad Gushue in both the HearingLife Tour Challenge and Co-op Canadian Open championship games, his side will take on a different Brad this time.
After a fiery 6-5 victory in the quarterfinals over the hometown hero Gushue, one that resulted in jeers and cheers from the crowd, Canada’s Team Brad Jacobs doubled up on Scotland’s Team Ross Whyte 6-3 in the semis to punch a ticket to the championship game.
Mouat's lone loss to Shuster means Jacobs (6-0) will start the final with the hammer and look to win his first Grand Slam title with his recently formed Calgary club featuring third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert. The skip from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., left Team Reid Carruthers over the off-season and linked up with the trio, who previously played with skip Brendan Bottcher but opted to go in a different direction.
The women’s final kicks off Championship Sunday at 12:30 p.m. NT / 11 a.m. ET on Sportsnet East, Ontario, West, Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet+ followed by the men’s final at 5 p.m. NT / 3:30 p.m. ET on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet+.
Live streaming for both finals is available on free preview via HomeTeam.
