Canadian skip Homan says winning her first women’s curling world championship is an ‘amazing feeling’

The World Women’s Curling Championship got off to a good start for Canada’s Rachel Homan.

Homan opened the tournament with a 7-6 win over Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg on Saturday.

“It feels phenomenal,” Homan said of the win in Sydney, N.S. “We’re here fighting for Canada, and for everyone here rooting for us wholeheartedly, we feel their emotions with them.

“We’re just trying to do our best and keep as many wins as possible for Canada.”

Featured l Homan defeats Hasselborg in opening round:

Canada defeats Sweden in opening round of the World Women’s Curling Championship

Rachel Homan’s rink needed all 10 ends to defeat Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg in a close first match in Sydney, N.S.

Homan doesn’t have much time to celebrate the opening game victory. Canada will face Denmark’s Madeleine Dupont in the second round late Saturday night.

Canada scored two points in the first end, and Sweden made it 2-1 in the second. The Canadians scored two more points in the third to take a 4-1 lead.

After Sweden pulled within 4-2 after the fourth end, Canada regained a 5-2 lead heading into the sixth end. The Swedes scored one point again in that end, but the Canadians countered with another deuce in the seventh end for a commanding 7-3 advantage.

But Sweden made something very interesting until the end. Register a single in each of her three endings.

“They’re a phenomenal team,” Homan said of Sweden. “If you can’t take the center line, you’re going to have a lot of stones in play.

“And when we have to play defensively, the team can definitely crawl. We’re ready for that.”

Hasselborg comfortably took the loss in the opening match.

“We just took a little bit of time to get on the ice and learn the ice,” she said. “And I think we did that a lot better throughout the game, and I hope we can carry that into the next one.”