Rachel Homan closes in on playoff berth at Scotties Tournament of Hearts

Rachel Homan's curling team was virtually, if not mathematically, assured a playoff spot at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts with a fifth straight win.

The defending champions and reigning world champions remained unbeaten with a 7-4 win over New Brunswick's Melissa Adams on Tuesday.

In the four years the Canadian women's curling championship has been an 18-team affair, only once has five wins not been enough for the playoff cutline.

It happened to be Homan's team in 2023, with six wins in Pool B, that shut the door on teams below it.

"We're pretty close to playoffs," Homan concurred. "Just have to keep getting better.

"It wasn't a great performance today, so just need to keep building as the week goes on. Just learn the ice a little bit. We had lots of curl yesterday and then lost it all today. I guess just keeping up with the draws as they go."

Homan, vice Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes out of the Ottawa Curling Club extended their run of wins in the tournament to 17.

Homan is the only woman to have skipped teams to unbeaten records twice in the tournament (2014, 2024), but running the table in back-to-back years wasn't a priority for the 35-year-old.

"It's never on my mind for sure," she said. "It doesn't really matter. At the end of the day, we want to be in the final and we hope to make more shots that the other team, but we're a long ways away from that right now, so just focus on what you need to do now to come out tomorrow strong."

The top three teams in each pool of nine advance to the round of six, who will battle for four Page playoff berths.

Sunday's winner represents Canada in the world championship March March 15-23 in Uijeongbu, South Korea, and earns $100,000 in prize money.

Homan