Homan rallies to 'steal' Canadian Open women's title; Bottcher second on men's side

Homan rallies to ‘steal’ Canadian Open women’s title; Bottcher second on men’s side

RED DEER, Alta. — Rachel Homan’s emotional roller-coaster ride ended on a happy note Sunday as the Ottawa skip engineered a steal of one in an extra end to edge Silvana Tirinzoni’s Switzerland squad 5-4 in the women’s Grand Slam of Curling Co-op Canadian Open final on Sunday night.

Trailing 4-2 heading into the eighth end, Homan counted her only deuce of the game to force an extra end against Tirinzoni, who had been near flawless with the hammer all week at Servus Arena.

Homan, with third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes, beat the odds by counting one to capture the fourth Grand Slam event of the 2023-24 season.

Earlier Sunday, Scotland’s Bruce Mouat defeated Canada’s Brendan Bottcher 6-5 to win the men’s title.

Bottcher, who curls out of Calgary, has Marc Kennedy at third, Brett Gallant at second, and lead Ben Hebert.

After Bottcher knotted the final 2-2 in the second end, Mouat outscored his opponent 4-1 over the course of the next four ends, including a clutch deuce in the sixth end.

Bottcher scored one in the seventh and stole one in the eighth, ultimately falling short of a comeback.

Mouat finished the tournament without a defeat, while the final was just the second loss for Bottcher.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press