Homan, Einarson advance to quarterfinals at Grand Slam of Curling event

Team Canada skip Kerri Einarson makes a shot as they play Team Ontario–Homan in qualifications at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Calgary, Alta., Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. Einarson advanced to the women's quarterfinals at the HearingLife Tour Challenge on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

CHARLOTTETOWN — Canada's Rachel Homan and Kerri Einarson advanced to the women's quarterfinals at the HearingLife Tour Challenge with wins on Friday.

Homan, the reigning world and Canadian champion, scored three points in the eighth and final end to beat Switzerland's Xenia Schwaller 6-4.

It was the third win for Homan's Ottawa-based team at the triple-elimination Grand Slam of Curling event, giving her a spot in the weekend playoffs.

Einarson, a four-time Canadian champion from Gimli, Man., defeated Winnipeg's Kaitlyn Lawes 5-4.

Einarson's team reeled off three straight wins after losing its opening match.

Schwaller and Lawes both fell to 2-2 and dropped into the event's "C" bracket.

Schwaller was set to face South Korea's Eun-Jung Kim and Lawes was scheduled to face Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni later Friday, with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals and the losers going home.

Kim stayed alive with a 6-3 win over Anna Hasselborg that eliminated the 2018 Olympic gold medallist from Sweden.

In other Draw 14 results, Sweden's Isabella Wrana booked a quarterfinal spot with a 6-3 win over the American team usually skipped by Tabitha Peterson.

Cory Thiesse, who's throwing fourth stones as Peterson is on maternity leave, will face Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa later Friday for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Fujisawa beat Chelsea Carey 5-1 earlier in the day to eliminate the Winnipeg-based team. Carey's squad was playing as a threesome as second Emily Zacharias was unavailable.

Third Karlee Burgess threw a game-low 57 per cent as the Carey side fell to 1-3.

In other early games at the Bell Aliant Centre, Brad Gushue of St. John's, N.L., defeated Scotland's Cameron Bryce 6-3 and Tirinzoni beat Scotland's Rebecca Morrison 6-3.

American John Shuster made a hit in an extra end for a 7-6 victory over Italy's Joel Retornaz.

Two more draws are scheduled for later in the day. The playoffs begin Saturday afternoon and the finals are scheduled for Sunday.

   This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2024.