CHARLOTTETOWN — Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan started the HearingLife Tour Challenge with a 9-3 victory over Team Delaney Strouse from the United States during Draw 3 Tuesday at the Bell Aliant Centre.
Homan, who holds the No. 1 seed in the triple knockout, has now won 13 straight games to start the season after sweeping through the Shorty Jenkins Classic and PointsBet Invitational tournaments.
The 15-time Grand Slam winner Homan scored four in the second, stole three in the third and took two more points in the sixth for early handshakes.
Strouse opened the scoring with a steal of two in the second but was only able to get one more point in the fifth.
No. 2 seed Team Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland also rolled out to a big win with a 9-1 rout over Scotland’s Team Rebecca Morrison.
Tirinzoni counted three in the first and stole one in the second for a 4-0 lead. After trading singles, Tirinzoni stole again, swiping four in the fifth to ice the game early.
Italy’s Team Stefania Constantini rebounded to beat Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., 6-4.
“It’s the first Slam of the season and of course it’s really good for us to be here,” Constantini said. “We are enjoying our time and starting with a win on the board is really good.”
Constantini conceded a single steal in the fifth to fall behind 4-3 but came back with a key three points in the seventh. Einarson was left without a shot to tie it and extend the match on her last in the eighth.
“I think we managed the score really well,” Constantini said. “Yes, we had a steal in the fifth end, but we thought, OK, we have the hammer in the sixth. So keep working and I think we did it really good.”
Winnipeg’s Team Kaitlyn Lawes beat Team Eun-jung Kim of South Korea 6-3.
The HearingLife Tour Challenge is the first Grand Slam of Curling event of the season and features triple knockout brackets where teams must win three games before they lose three to qualify for the playoffs.
It’s also the largest event in the series with a total of 64 men’s and women’s teams in action split across two tiers. Winners of the Tier 2 earn berths to the 2025 WFG Masters.
Eight teams in the men’s and women’s divisions advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals. The semifinals are also set for Saturday with the finals scheduled for Sunday.
One more triple knockout draw is on tap Tuesday starting at 6:30 p.m. AT / 5:30 p.m. ET.
