Homan Sets Curling Record with 19th Grand Slam Win
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By Noan Gagnon
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Summary:
- Rachel Homan’s Ottawa team beat Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni 8-2 in the CO-OP Tour Challenge final.
- The home victory made her the all-time Grand Slam leader with 19 titles, passing Kevin Martin.
- Bruce Mouat won the men’s event
Rachel Homan made curling history on Sunday, leading her Ottawa-based team to an 8-2 win over Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni in the final of the CO-OP Tour Challenge.
The victory gave Homan her 19th career Grand Slam title, the most ever by a skip, surpassing Alberta legend Kevin Martin’s long-standing record.
For Homan, the milestone was even more special because it came close to home. The 35-year-old, who grew up just outside Edmonton in Beaumont, Alta., celebrated in front of friends, family, and a packed house.
Her team, featuring Tracy Fleury at third, Emma Miskew at second, and Sarah Wilkes at lead, took home $34,500 in prize money.
The win also continued one of curling’s most familiar rivalries. This was the ninth time Homan and Tirinzoni had faced off in a Grand Slam women’s final, and the third straight meeting in the championship match.
Tirinzoni won the Players’ Championship last April, but Homan has had the upper hand overall, now holding a 7-2 record against the Swiss skip in these showdowns.
Homan said afterward,
You couldn’t ask for anything more than that to have your home Slam be the one that you break records. It’s just really surreal right now to be able to do it in front of friends and family.
Homan set the tone early in the final, scoring four points in the opening end and never looking back. She led 5-2 at the halfway mark before stealing one in the fifth and adding two more in the sixth to seal the win.
Winnipeg’s Dunstone Lost to Bruce Mouat
On the men’s side, Scotland’s Bruce Mouat earned his 11th Grand Slam title after defeating Winnipeg’s Matt Dunstone 5-2. Mouat scored pairs in the first and fourth ends, keeping control throughout.
Dunstone, who had captured his second Grand Slam just last month at the AMJ Masters in London, Ontario, couldn’t find the same momentum this time.
The matchup carried a bit of history of its own, as it was a rematch of the 2016 world junior final, where Mouat took gold for Scotland and Dunstone claimed bronze for Canada.
