Canada women win Pan Continental championship title

It went all the way to an umpire’s measure on the last stone, but Canada’s women eventually emerged as 6-5 winners over Korea in Saturday afternoon’s gold medal final of the Pan Continental Curling Championships 2024 in Lacombe.

This game was tight all the way. Canada opened with two points in the first end, but Korea responded straight away when their skip Gim Eunji played a double take-out to score two and level the game at 2-2.

Canada skip Rachel Homan then opted to blank the next two ends before she found herself having to draw inside two Korean stones to score one in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead into the break.

In the sixth end, it was Korea’s turn to be forced to take a point, as skip Gim drew inside three Canadian stones in the house for one, levelling the game again, at 3-3.

In the seventh end, tight play meant that Canada were once again forced to take just one point, as Homan brought her final effort inside two Korean stones sitting in the house for a 4-3 lead. The Koreans then had a break-through in the eighth, when Korea skip Gim played a draw to score two points and take a 5-4 lead.

Then, in the ninth end, Canada’s skip Rachel Homan responded with a double take-out to score one point and level the game at 5-5.

This gave Korea last stone advantage in the tenth end and, when skip Gim brought her final effort through a tight gap to reach the four-foot ring and tap back the Canadian counter, it looked like she had done enough to win. But an umpire’s measure showed that she had just failed to move the Canadian stone enough, giving Canada a steal of one from the end, a score of 6-5, the gold medals, and the title.

After her victory, Canada’s Rachel Homan said, “it’s amazing. It was exciting to be in that gold medal game and what a game for the fans to watch. It’s been a strong week for the team and we’ve had a lot of fun”.

Meanwhile, silver medallist Gim Eunji said, “it was a very enjoyable game for everyone, so we’re happy to present such a game to the crowds.

“The opponents played awesome, but I know we played very well also. I’m very proud of my team.

“I know that, during the tournament my performance wasn’t at the peak, but my team-mates trusted me and helped me a lot so we were able to get through and achieve our result.”

In the B-Division finals, Australia’s women beat Jamaica by 11-4 to take gold, and gain promotion to next year’s A-Division, with Kazakhstan previously taking bronze.

Philippines won the men’s B-Division, with a 9-3 victory over Kazakhstan, and they are now promoted to next year’s A-Division. Before this final, Hong Kong China had taken men’s B-Division bronze.

Medal winners

Gold: Canada
Rachel Homan (skip and fourth), Tracy Fleury (third), Emma Miskew (second), Sarah Wilkes (lead), Rachel Brown (alternate).
Viktor Kjell (coach)

Silver: Korea
Gim Eunji (skip and fourth), Kim Minji (third), Kim Suji (second), Seol Yeeun (lead), Seol Yeji (alternate).
Shin Dong Ho (coach)

Bronze: China
Wang Rui (skip and fourth), Han Yu (third), Dong Ziqi (second), Jiang Jiayi (lead), Su Tingyu (alternate).
Zang Jialiang (coach)