Homan, Kim roll into playoffs undefeated at Kioti National

ST. JOHN’S, NL — Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan and Team Eun-jung Kim of South Korea kept their undefeated streaks intact at the Kioti National.

Both clubs had already qualified for the playoffs and picked up wins during the women’s final round-robin draw Friday afternoon at the Mary Brown’s Center to take unblemished 4-0 records into the quarterfinals.

Team Homan defeated Sweden’s Team Isabella Wranå 11-6, while Team Kim picked up a 5-3 win over Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man.

Homan posted a perfect record through the Co-op Canadian Open at the start of the month in Nisku, Alta., to win a record-extending 16th Grand Slam of Curling women’s title and will look to match that run.

“It feels good,” Team Homan sophomore Emma Misew said. “It’s always going to be a bit of a grind. Different days and different draw times, we had different ice conditions, so it was like starting fresh every game.

“We’re definitely making enough shots to win games and getting a little bit better every game and we hope to keep rolling into the playoffs.”

Team Homan needed two points in the eighth end, but why not score six for fun? Wranå couldn’t freeze on his last and Homan was able to pop it out for the huge count.

“We were able to spread our rocks out pretty nicely early, which is great,” Homan said. “Then after that, through the hole a few times and your stones just pile up on the side.

“We were really hoping she wouldn’t weld that freeze on there because then we would definitely be forced, but it was nice to come out with the win.”

It was the first loss for Einarson, who already clinched a playoff spot Thursday and enters the quarterfinals with a 3-1 record.

Wranå (1-3) was eliminated from the playoffs.

Japan’s Team Sayaka Yoshimura beat Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni 6-4 and South Korea’s Team Eun-ji Gim beat Japan’s Team Momoha Tabata 5-4 elsewhere in the tie.

Yoshimura, Tirinzoni and Gim finished with 2-2 records to be stuck in a traffic jam in the standings with Halifax’s Team Christina Black and Team Seung-youn Ha of South Korea for the final three playoff spots.

Yoshimura advanced directly to the quarterfinals based on draw-to-the-button shootout totals with Gim vs. Black and Ha vs. Tirinzoni set for tiebreaks on Saturday morning.

Tabata (1-3) was eliminated from the tournament.

Einarson will face Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa (3-1) and Homan will face Yoshimura in the quarterfinals, while Kim and Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg (4-0) await the tiebreaker winners.

Round-robin play ends at 8:00 PM NT / 6:30 PM ET. Watch live on Sportsnet One and Sportsnet+.

Live streaming of each game is available on free preview via Home team.

The Kioti National is the third Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … The top eight teams in both divisions advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals. … The semifinals are also scheduled for Saturday with both finals on tap Sunday.