Swedish Stars are Slamming Again

With files from the Grand Slam of Curling

Rachel Homan is human after all.

Then women’s fours curling juggernaut lost Sunday’s final of the Masters Grand Slam at Guelph, Ont. to Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg by a 7-5 count.

It was the fourth straight Grand Slam final for Ottawa’s Homan—which includes two wins, the previous one over Hasselborg—who also lost in a pool matchup to Hasselborg’s Swedish rivals skipped by Isabella Wraana earlier in the week.

Team Homan, the 17-time Slam titleholders, still hold a profoundly remarkable 112-10 won/loss record since the fall of 2023.

But—finally—the current story is about a different women’s team.

The Hasselborg victory will surely lift the sails of the Swedes, who are in the midst of a comeback season following a couple of lean years.

The $42,000 payday marks Hasselborg’s eighth career Slam crown, but first since the 2022 Players’ Championship. That was the team’s last-ever event with previous coach Wayne Middaugh.

“It feels amazing,” Hasselborg told the Grand Slam of Curling. “It’s hard to find words for how proud I am of the work we are doing.

“We decided to have two years that were more of a maintenance. This year, we weren’t certain if it would pay off but all the hard work is definitely paying off.”

Hasselborg was backed by longtime teammates Sara McManus, Agnes Knochenhauer and Sofia Mabergs. The squad went a spotless 7-0 at the Sleeman Centre.

“I feel so proud of the way we are playing and to get the win out of that is also showing that we’re doing the right things,” continued the two-time Olympic medal-winning skip.

“I’m so proud and I definitely feel this is the start of our climb and really get back to top positions and being great again.”

As in the men’s final, the Masters featured a new rule where teams lost last-rock advantage—the hammer—if they blanked consecutive ends.

After the teams swapped deuces to start the match, Hasselborg stole a key point in the fourth end for a 4-2 lead after Homan missed a double-takeout attempt.

A tying deuce later, the Swedish team made a tough tap while facing three to take the lead. A miss and half-shot in the seventh end left Homan with only a single point, and Hasselborg held the hammer coming home.

“I did have a few picks but we still managed to play enough good rocks and were able to have hammer in the last (end),” said Hasselborg.

“The draw for the win is the dream.”

In truth, the draw was unnecessary as Sweden lay shot stone in the eighth, but Hasselborg took no chances and drew the button to confirm the win.

Homan and teammates Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes won $34,000 from the prize pool. They defeated Korea’s Eun-jung Kim 10-7 in a wild semifinal while Hasselborg took out Wraana by a 6-3 count.

Wraana defeated the other Canadian playoff team skipped by Kerri Einarson in the quarterfinals, while Hasselborg dispatched Japan’s Mimosa Tabata, Homan took out Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni and Kim defeated Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa.

In Saturday morning tiebreaker action, Fujisawa defeated Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes while Tabata beat defending Ontario champion Danielle Inglis of Ottawa.

Earlier on Sunday, Scotland’s Ross Whyte won his first Grand Slam of Curling title earlier Sunday with a 5-4 victory over Calgary’s Brad Jacobs in the men’s final.