Slow start for Canada at Women’s Worlds

It was a slow start for Team Canada at the Volvo Sports Center in Riga, Latvia, today, losing to Scotland 6-4 in the first game of the round robin of the Titlis Glacier Mountain World Women’s Curling Championship 2013, presented by Ford Motor Company of Canada.

Rachel Homan in action at the World Women’s Curling Championship in Riga, Latvia today (WCF/Richard Gray)

Rachel Homan and her Ottawa team – Emma Miskew, Alison Kreviazuk and Lisa Weagle, with alternate Stephanie LeDrew and coach Earl Morris – showed flashes of the form that earned them the Scotties Tournament of Hearts title last month, but they found themselves chasing Scotland’s Eve Muirhead throughout the game. “We knew it was going to be a tough game tonight and we really didn’t bring our A-game and take last rock,” said Homan afterwards. Scotland scored a deuce in the first end and followed up with a single when Team Canada second Alison Kreviazuk took a tumble and burned a rock. But Homan remained patient, blanking the next two ends, then taking advantage of a miss by Scottish third Anna Sloan to set up a deuce in the fifth. Canada appeared to be taking control, forcing Muirhead to a single in six, and tying the score 4-4 on a delicate tap-back by Homan with last rock in the seventh. But the momentum shifted again in the ninth. With the score 5-4 in Scotland’s favour, Canada struggled to get rocks in position. Homan’s draw slid too far, giving up a steal. With hammer, trailing by two, Canada was once again unable to get rocks in play, and allowed Muirhead to hit out for the 6-4 win. “We’re going to learn from our mistakes,” Homan said. “It’s the games that you lose that you make the most gains and improvements on, so we’ll come back sharper tomorrow.” The Titlis Glacier Mountain World Women’s Curling Championship 2013, presented by Ford Motor Company of Canada, continues on Sunday. Homan will play Latvia’s Iveta Staša-Šaršune at 8 a.m. and Denmark’s Lene Nielsen at 1 p.m. (all times EDT). All of Team Canada’s games are being broadcast by TSN/RDS, the official broadcast partner of the Season of Champions. Note that the Canada-Denmark game will tape-delayed, with the broadcast starting at 4 p.m. EDT. Event news, live scores and galleries can be found on the event website: https://wwcc2013.curlingevents.com