Music: {allcanada} HOMAN CLINCHES PLAYOFF BERTH AT WOMEN'S CURLING WORLDS

Thursday, March 21, 2013

{allcanada} HOMAN CLINCHES PLAYOFF BERTH AT WOMEN'S CURLING WORLDS

RIGA, Latvia -- Canada's Rachel Homan will be playing on the weekend at the world women's curling championship.

She defeated China's Bingyu Wang 7-4 on Thursday morning to guarantee a tiebreaker appearance. Homan locked up a playoff spot moments later when Latvia upset Switzerland 8-7 in an extra end.

Homan will play in the Page playoff 3-4 game. She earned the third seed with an 8-4 victory over Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa in the afternoon draw at the Volvo Sports Center.

The China-Canada game was a defensive battle over the first eight ends. China scored two in the ninth but Canada had the hammer coming home.

Homan used her last throw to take out a stone by the four-foot ring to score four for the win. She gave credit to her teammates for their strong play in the final end.

"We made some big shots there to help us guarantee our two," Homan said.

The Ottawa Curling Club skip, who is making her debut at this event, finished with an 8-3 record. Scotland and Sweden were both 9-1 after 15 draws and will play in the Page playoff 1-2 game.

The United States, Russia and Switzerland were still in contention for the final playoff spot. Round-robin play wraps up Thursday night and the medal games are scheduled for Sunday.

The Canadians extended their winning streak to four games with their latest victory. They're not dominating rinks like they did at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts last month, but they're still winning the tight games.

"The good news about having close games all the time is you're constantly playing pressure shots," said coach Earle Morris. "That bodes well because come playoff time, you're used to the pressure and it means you'll make the tough ones in the playoffs as well."

Iveta Stasa-Satsune of the host side recorded her first win of the tournament with an 8-7, extra-end victory over Switzerland's Silvana Tirinzoni. About 100 fans were in attendance and they joyously started chanting the host country's name while cheering.

The Latvian players hugged and cried tears of joy after the upset win, a significant accomplishment considering there are only a few hundred curlers in the country and Riga has just one dedicated curling rink.

Homan is hoping to win Canada's first world women's title since Manitoba's Jennifer Jones was victorious in 2008.

Alberta's Heather Nedohin skipped Canada to a bronze medal at the 2012 world championship in Lethbridge. Switzerland's Mirjam Ott won gold last year.