NISKU, Alta. — The game of inches lived up to its name in the semifinals of the CO-OP Tour Challenge.
Canada's Team Rachel Homan edged Sweden's Team Anna Hasselborg 5-4 in a thrilling draw-to-the-button shootout to reach a record-breaking seventh consecutive Grand Slam of Curling women's final.
Hasselborg needed to cover the pinhole to match Homan's draw shot and force a second round. Although her stone landed on the lid, it came up a hair short.
"I've never won a semi on a draw to the button like that," Team Homan second Emma Miskew said. "She threw it great. It was a battle all game, could have gone either way, so it's nice to win such a close draw there."
There was a misfire for Hasselborg in the fifth end as she was looking to remove Homan's lone rock in the house, hiding behind a guard, but she didn't hit hard enough as it hung onto the rings. Homan, who was expecting to throw her last through the house for a blank, pivoted to a draw shot for the deuce and 3-2 lead.
Hasselborg was forced to draw for a single in the sixth to tie it, as she had already used up her one blank in the opening end of the match.
Team Homan already sat shot rock in the seventh, but she had to settle for the single as her double raise attempt for two jammed on a Hasselborg stone. A single for Hasselborg in the eighth led to the sudden-death shootout.
Homan will face a familiar foe in the final. Team Silvana Tirinzoni advanced with a 7-3 victory over Team Xenia Schwaller in an all-Swiss showdown.
"Oh my God, it feels awesome," Team Tirinzoni second Carole Howald said. "I mean, there are the best teams in the world (here) and to be able to play another final, and now against Homan again, that feels great. We like to play against them in the final again and take the revenge."
It's the third straight Grand Slam final between the two teams. Tirinzoni topped Homan to capture the Players' Championship to wrap up last season in April, and Homan won the rematch during the AMJ Masters final last month. Homan and Miskew earned their 18th Grand Slam titles that time, tying legendary men's skip Kevin Martin for the most among all players, regardless of gender.
Sunday will also be the ninth time overall that Homan and Tirinzoni square off in a Grand Slam women's final. Homan holds a 6-2 advantage through their eight previous contests with the championship on the line in the series — including last year's Canadian Open held in the same building.
"It's very comfortable now. We've met in so many finals," Miskew said. "They always play well. We're gonna have to be sharp, but it's always a very friendly rivalry and there's a lot of respect there for them."
Howald is confident in her team's chances Sunday.
It's always a great battle against them, and I think we feel very good this week," Howald said. "I think if we're going to keep playing like we did the whole week, we have good chances."
The Silent Ice Center is also not too far from home for Homan, who lives a stone's throw away in Beaumont, and the crowd erupted when she covered the pin in the shootout.
"It's really nice here. This whole facility and the area and Rachel being so close to home, it's a great place to play," Miskew said. "We're really happy to be here and it's nice to be able to give the crowd a hometown person to cheer for in the final. I'm glad that we're getting to play in it."
It's the fourth consecutive week on the road for Team Tirinzoni from the AMJ Masters in London, Ont., to the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard, to the Autumn Gold Curling Classic in Okotoks, Alta., and now one more game in the CO-OP Tour Challenge.
"I can feel it in my legs, but you are always ready for this final game," Howald said. "We are really looking forward to that. Then back to Switzerland, that's going to feel great."
DUNSTONE, MOUAT MEET IN MEN'S FINAL
Canada's Team Matt Dunstone takes on Scotland's Team Bruce Mouat in the men's final.
Dunstone scored two in the eighth end to edge Team John Epping 6-5 in an all-Canadian clash, while Mouat fended off Italy's Team Joël Retornaz 4-2.
"It's been a good week, really happy with how we've been performing, played a really good game there," Mouat said. "The two games that we played today were probably two of our best, so it's what you need to do when you get to the playoffs."
It's the second straight Grand Slam final for Dunstone, who defeated Scotland's Team Ross Whyte to capture the AMJ Masters men's title.
"Things are obviously just going well for us," Dunstone said. "Two Sundays in a row. That's new for me. Old hat for (teammates E.J. and Ryan Harnden), obviously, but it feels great to consistently give ourselves a chance to win these events every time we're here."
Epping led by one without the hammer coming home, but his last shot collided with a guard and left the door open for Dunstone to score the winning deuce.
With the Olympic trials drawing near, Dunstone said, "The more we get to play fellow Canadian teams, the better."
"Johnny and them, they're an amazing team," he added. "They threw everything at us. They're not hiding behind anything anymore. That is for real. Just got the break when we needed it tonight."
A funny moment occurred during the seventh end between Mouat and Retornaz. Neither team wanted to score the point, wishing to hold the hammer for the final frame instead, and opted for a measure the solve the judgment. The stick gave it to Mouat, who took the two-point advantage.
Although that gave Retornaz the last-rock advantage coming home, he didn't get a chance to throw his last, as Mouat doubled out the rocks he had in the house.
"Yeah, it's funny. I don't think I've ever been so gutted to actually win a measure, but it was still pretty good," Mouat said. "We knew we were in a good position. … Obviously, getting the hammer in the last end appeals, but going two up then, that's still pretty good as well.
"If we had to go to the draw shot, we were pretty confident on being close. We're happy that we didn't do that, but we won straight out."
UP NEXT
The women's final kicks off Championship Sunday at Noon ET / 10 a.m. MT, followed by the men's final at 4:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. MT.
Watch live on rockchannel.com, Sportsnet or Sportsnet+.
MEN'S QUARTERFINALS RECAP
Epping advanced to the semifinals with a 6-5 victory over Scotland's Team Kyle Waddell, while Dunstone eliminated Sweden's Team Niklas Edin 7-2.
Trailing by one, Epping chipped and bumped for two points in the sixth end to pull ahead. Waddell took one in the seventh to tie it, and Epping drew to the button for the winning point in the eighth.
Dunstone scored deuces in the first and fourth ends and stole one in the second to hold a 5-1 lead at the break. After Edin was limited to a single in five, Dunstone added two more points to his haul to bring out the handshakes.
Mouat hammered Canada's Team Brad Gushue 9-2 in a rematch of last year's final, and Retornaz ousted Switzerland's Team Yannick Schwaller 5-2.
The 10-time Grand Slam of Curling champion Mouat was already up by three when he scored four in the sixth end to ice the game early.
Mouat made history in 2024-25 by becoming the first to win four Grand Slam titles in a single season.
WOMEN'S QUARTERFINALS RECAP
Homan and Tirinzoni cruised into the semifinals.
Homan hammered Team Kerri Einarson 9-3 in an all-Canadian matchup, while Tirinzoni swept past Sweden's Team Isabella Wranå 9-4.
The two-time reigning world champion Homan improved to a 79-2 record against Canadian competition since the start of the 2023-24 season. While those two losses came against Einarson during the previous two Tour Challenge events — in pool play during the 2023 tournament and the 2024 final — Homan still holds an overall 10-2 head-to-head advantage over that stretch, including six straight wins.
Homan scored deuces in the first and third ends, then stole one in the fourth for a commanding 5-1 lead at the break. Although Einarson took two back in the fifth to cut the deficit in half, Homan matched right back with a pair of points in the sixth and swiped two more in the seventh to bring out the handshakes.
Switzerland's Team Xenia Schwaller outduelled Italy's Team Stefania Constantini in a shootout, and Sweden's Team Anna Hasselborg ousted South Korea's Team Eun-ji Gim 6-4.
Schwaller reached the semifinals of a Grand Slam of Curling event for the first time.
TIEBREAKERS RECAP
Earlier, four teams advanced out of the morning's tiebreakers to advance to the quarterfinals.
Gushue fended off Team Mike McEwen 7-4 in an all-Canadian matchup to qualify and snap a three-event playoff drought in the Grand Slam of Curling series.
Gushue broke a 4-all tie with a deuce in the seventh and hung with a steal in the eighth. McEwen's runback double attempt for the tying two points that would have forced a shootout needed to roll, but landed on the nose.
Waddell avoided a collapse with an 8-7 shootout win over Germany's Team Marc Muskatewitz. Waddell was up 7-4 until Muskatewitz charged back with a deuce in the sixth, followed by back-to-back steals, leading to the shootout.
Wranå eliminated Japan's Team Momoha Tabata 4-3 and Gim ousted Japan's Team Satsuki Fujisawa 6-5 on the women's side.
SATURDAY'S SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Tiebreakers
• Gushue 7, McEwen 4
• Waddell 8, Muskatewitz 7 (shootout)
• Wranå 4, Tabata 3
• Gim 6, Fujisawa 5
Women's Quarterfinals
• Tirinzoni 9, Wranå 4
• Homan 9, Einarson 3
• Hasselborg 6, Gim 4
• X. Schwaller 6, Constantini 5 (shootout)
Men's Quarterfinals
• Epping 6, Waddell 5
• Dunstone 7, Edin 2
• Mouat 9, Gushue 2
• Retornaz 5, Y. Schwaller 2
Men's and Women's Semifinals
• Homan 5, Hasselborg 4 (shootout)
• Tirinzoni 7, X. Schwaller 3
• Mouat 4, Retornaz 2
• Dunstone 6, Epping 5
