Delighted.
That’s how Eve Muirhead felt moments after her final rock drew to the full eight-foot ring to give the Scottish rink a 5-3 victory over Ottawa’s Rachel Homan in the first-ever Canadian Open women’s final on Sunday night at the Gallagher Centre.
Facing three but with the hammer, Muirhead’s final rock floated down the ice to snuff out a last ditch attempt by Homan to give the 2013 World Champion Muirhead rink their second Grand Slam event title in a row after taking home the Colonial Square Ladies’ Classic in Saskatoon earlier this year.
“We played really well out there today,” offered Muirhead on her team’s performance in the final against Homan. “I think the last couple of days we played great and we knew we had to bring our ‘A’ game to the playoffs and that’s exactly what we did.”
Not only did Muirhead knock off Homan, she also eliminated 2014 Olympic gold medallist Jennifer Jones in the quarterfinals 8-5 before ousting 2014 Masters champion Val Sweeting in the semi-finals by a 6-3 score.
But while the first two playoff games were difficult, the final proved to be even more so. “We knew we had to come out and play well because they’re a very strong team,” offered Muirhead on their final opponents from Ottawa. “So to come out with a victory against a team as good as Rachel Homan’s, that’s fantastic.”
Homan, just as she had done all tournament long, got the blank she wanted in the first end to retain hammer heading into the second; but that’s where things went south for the rink from the Great White North as Homan’s final rock of the second end rubbed off her own guard, then rubbed off Muirhead’s shot rock and tucked itself into the 12-foot ring to give the Scottish lasses a steal of two.
The two teams then traded singles the rest of the way with Homan scoring one in the third, fifth and seventh, while Muirhead picked up ones in the fourth, sixth and eighth ends to take the game by a 5-3 score.
For Muirhead, the win proved that their hard work has been paying off. However, she said that they aren’t done yet. “We’re just looking to keep building on from every performance. We’re never satisfied so we always want to get better and better because we know all the teams are still chasing us.
“We’re going to keep practicing hard because we’ve still got things to work on. If we can continue this momentum going for the rest of the season then that’d be good.”
Muirhead and company look to carry their momentum into the final event for the women’s Grand Slam tour, the 2015 Players’ Championship in Toronto, Ont., with the hopes of winning their third women’s Grand Slam event in a row.
