Mixed results for Canadian skips early at Pan Continental championship

Canada's Rachel Homan dropped her first game of the Pan Continental Curling Championship with an 11-5 loss to Japan on Tuesday in Virginia, Minn.

Homan's team, the reigning Canadian, world and Pan Continental women's champions, gave up five in the third end and countered with three in the fourth.

But the Canadians couldn't gain ground on Satsuki Fujisawa's foursome that scored deuces in the fifth and seventh ends.

The Pan Continental is a regional qualifier for the men's and women's world championships in 2026.

Canada is already assured a berth in the women's world championship as the host country March 14-22 in Calgary.

In men's competition, Canada's Brad Jacobs opened with a 10-4 victory Monday over China's Xiaoming Xu and was set to face the Philippines on Tuesday.

The top four countries in the men's Pan Continental join host United States in the field of next year's men's world championship in Ogden City, Utah, from March 27 to April 4.

Canada claims bronze medal with win over China at world curling championships