Team Canada celebrates after winning the match against South Korea on Thursday.Issei Kato/Reuters
Rachel Homan’s Canadian rink will play for a medal in the women’s Olympic women’s curling bonspiel.
Canada’s team, which also includes Sarah Wilkes, Emma Miskew and Tracy Fleury, beat Eunji Gim’s South Korea rink 10-7 on the final day of round-robin play to book a spot in Friday’s semi-finals.
Canada (6-3) will face the 7-2 Swedish side skipped by Anna Hasselborg, Friday in Cortina (8:05 a.m. ET). Canada was one of the two teams to beat Sweden during round-robin play.
The other semi-final will feature Switzerland (6-3) and the U.S. (6-3). The winners will square off Sunday for gold, and the losers meet Saturday for bronze.
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Team Homan is ranked No. 1 in the world and has been world champ. But its members have never been on the Olympic podium. This is Homan’s third Olympic appearance and Miskew’s second, while Fleury and Wilkes are first timers at the Winter Games.
“We’re fighting hard to bring back a medal for Canada,” said Homan. “It’s everyone’s dream to be able to do that and for your country.”
Thursday’s victory was the fifth consecutive for Homan’s side, after they got out to a 1-3 start in the bonspiel.
“I think we all knew that we were capable of getting on a run,” said Miskew.
The women’s games on Tuesday afternoon in Cortina were all pushed back by 30 minutes after heavy snowfall delayed the athlete buses travelling into the Italian mountain town. The usual quick ride to the Olympic Stadium usually takes just a few minutes. But Thursday it took an hour on the snow and bus-packed roads, with curlers asking to get out and walk the rest of the way.
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The meeting between Canada and South Korea was a battle of 5-3 teams who needed the sixth win in the final round robin contest to make the semis.
The Canadians broke open the game in the sixth end, capitalizing on a small miss from South Korea. A double takeout from Homan set up a massive score of four to put Canada way ahead.
Gim managed to battle back within two, but Canada maintained the hammer in the last end and put it away.
“I couldn’t ask for anything more from the girls,” said Homan. “I’m just unbelievably proud of them for getting us into this position.”
Meanwhile in the men’s curling bonspiel, Canada’s Team Brad Jacobs will face the Norwegian team skipped by Magnus Ramsfjell on Thursday in the semi-finals at 1 p.m. ET.
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