Delighted.
That鈥檚 how Eve Muirhead felt moments after her final rock drew to the full eight-foot ring to give the Scottish rink a 5-3 victory over Ottawa鈥檚 Rachel Homan in the first-ever Canadian Open women鈥檚 final on Sunday night at the Gallagher Centre.
Facing three but with the hammer, Muirhead鈥檚 final rock floated down the ice to snuff out a last ditch attempt by Homan to give the 2013 World Champion Muirhead rink their second Grand Slam event title in a row after taking home the Colonial Square Ladies鈥� Classic in Saskatoon earlier this year.
鈥淲e played really well out there today,鈥� offered Muirhead on her team鈥檚 performance in the final against Homan. 鈥淚 think the last couple of days we played great and we knew we had to bring our 鈥楢鈥� game to the playoffs and that鈥檚 exactly what we did.鈥�
Not only did Muirhead knock off Homan, she also eliminated 2014 Olympic gold medallist Jennifer Jones in the quarterfinals 8-5 before ousting 2014 Masters champion Val Sweeting in the semi-finals by a 6-3 score.
But while the first two playoff games were difficult, the final proved to be even more so. 鈥淲e knew we had to come out and play well because they鈥檙e a very strong team,鈥� offered Muirhead on their final opponents from Ottawa. 鈥淪o to come out with a victory against a team as good as Rachel Homan鈥檚, that鈥檚 fantastic.鈥�
Homan, just as she had done all tournament long, got the blank she wanted in the first end to retain hammer heading into the second; but that鈥檚 where things went south for the rink from the Great White North as Homan鈥檚 final rock of the second end rubbed off her own guard, then rubbed off Muirhead鈥檚 shot rock and tucked itself into the 12-foot ring to give the Scottish lasses a steal of two.
The two teams then traded singles the rest of the way with Homan scoring one in the third, fifth and seventh, while Muirhead picked up ones in the fourth, sixth and eighth ends to take the game by a 5-3 score.
For Muirhead, the win proved that their hard work has been paying off. However, she said that they aren鈥檛 done yet. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just looking to keep building on from every performance. We鈥檙e never satisfied so we always want to get better and better because we know all the teams are still chasing us.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to keep practicing hard because we鈥檝e still got things to work on. If we can continue this momentum going for the rest of the season then that鈥檇 be good.鈥�
Muirhead and company look to carry their momentum into the final event for the women鈥檚 Grand Slam tour, the 2015 Players鈥� Championship in Toronto, Ont., with the hopes of winning their third women鈥檚 Grand Slam event in a row.
