Canada’s Rachel Homan topped South Korea’s Gim Eun-ji 6-5 in an extra end on Saturday in the semifinals of the women’s curling world championship in Uijeongbu, China.
The Canadians will face Switzerland for gold on Sunday in a rematch of last year’s final, which saw Homan deny Swiss skip Silvana Tirinzoni’s bid for a fifth straight world title with a 7-5 win in Sydney, N.S.
Homan’s top-ranked Ottawa-based rink is aiming to become Canada’s first team to repeat as world champions since Sandra Schmirler’s foursome did it in 1993 and 1994.
WATCH | Homan returns to final with extra-end win over South Korea:
Rachel Homan’s rink defeated Korea 6-5, in an extra end, to advance to the gold medal final at the world women’s curling championship in Uijeongbu, South Korea.
“Win or lose, we fought out there. We left it all out there and I’m just so proud of the girls. So excited for us to be in another final. It’s great for Canada,” Homan said.
Canada made a double takeout in the 10th end to force South Korea to a single and send the back-and-forth battle to an extra end. A miss would have handed South Korea the win.
“I was pretty emotional after that. It was huge for us and huge for Canada,” Homan said. “We wanted to make that, and I didn’t know if it was going to stop falling. Thankfully, it did, and it was just a huge moment to keep our chances alive.”
Canada also defeated the South Koreans in last year’s semifinals.
Homan entered the semifinal matchup having defeated Scotland’s Sophie Jackson 10-4 in a qualification match earlier in the day.
The Canadians avenged an 8-7 loss to Scotland in the tournament’s opening weekend.
Canada was tied for second in the standings with South Korea with a 10-2 record coming out of round-robin play.
However, with South Korea having defeated the Canadians 11-7 on Wednesday in the round robin, the hosts earned the second semifinal bye.
The final is set for 3 a.m. ET.
WATCH | Homan cruises past Scotland in qualification game:
Canada defeated Scotland 10-4 at the world women’s curling championship Friday, as Rachel Homan and her Ottawa-based rink advance to the semifinal round to face host nation Korea.
