Everything you need to know about the 2025 women's worlds: Lineups, curlers and the skinny for each rink

Yahoo

15-03-2025

It's pretty much 'us against the world' if you're Team Homan at the 2025 LGT World Women's Curling Championships.
Not because anybody is disrespecting the Canadian champion in Uijeongbu, South Korea.
Not even close.
In fact, it's quite the opposite for skip Rachel Homan, third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes.
Everybody is targeting the team from Ottawa … for so many reasons.
They are, of course, the defending world title-holders, having triumphed last winter at the event in Sydney, N.S.
They are on a remarkable run of success, dating back to the beginning of last curling season with respective win-loss records of 67-7 in 2023-24 and 56-4 so far in 2024-25.
And that has them filled with confidence and running hot as the definite favourite to capture the crown for a second-straight year.
'Well … it's our third year together, so I think we find just the more experience we get playing together, the stronger we get,' Fleury said. 'We're all really comfortable with one another now and comfortable in our roles. And I mean … last season was unbelievable, and I think heading into this season, we kind of tried to prepare ourselves like it's OK if this season's not quite as incredible as last season, because obviously that would be hard to replicate.
'But we came out strong again this year, and we're winning a lot of games but still trying to find ways to make small improvements and raise the bar even more.'
'We're just continually trying to find little bits and pieces that each of us can do individually to get better as an individual and what we can do as a team to move forward from game to game and event to event,' agreed Wilkes. 'I think that's a huge part of our success and what keeps us moving forward.'
But even all that doesn't mean it's a cake-walk for Team Homan once the worlds begin early Saturday against Lithuania's Virginija Paulauskaite (1 a.m. ET, TSN) and continue later Saturday versus Scotland's Sophie Jackson (6 a.m. ET, TSN) at the Uijeongbu Indoor Ice Rink.
The planet is teeming with title contenders.
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Here's a look at the field for the LGT World Women's Curling Championships, with 13 teams having qualified from either the 2024 Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships or the 2024 Pan Continental Curling Championships set to go head-to-head in 12 round-robin contests apiece to qualify six teams for next weekend's playoffs …
• CANADA (Ottawa Curling Club) — Rachel Homan (skip), Tracey Fleury (third), Emma Miskew (second), Sarah Wilkes (lead), Rachelle Brown (alternate) How they qualified: Finished first at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, after winning the 2024 Pan Continental Curling Championships in Lacombe, Alta. The skinny: Homan returns with the same lineup that won the worlds last year in Sydney, N.S., and with a wowzer record of 123-7 since the beginning of the 2023-24 curling campaign.
• CHINA (Harbin CC) — Wang Rui (skip), Han Yu (third), Dong Ziqi (second), Jiang Jiayi (lead), Su Tingyu (alternate) How they qualified: Finished third at the 2024 pan continental championships The skinny: It's been awhile since Wang, a two-time Olympian, has been on the world stage. The last time was in 2019 Silkeborg (Denmark), capping a run of five appearances in six years. Her rink doesn't have a ton of experience at worlds, with just two previous trips — one by each of Han and Dong.
• DENMARK (Hvidovre CC) — Madeleine Dupont (skip), Mathilde Halse (third), Denise Dupont (second), My Larsen (lead), Jasmin Holtermann (alternate) How they qualified: Finished fifth at the 2024 European championships The skinny: Skip Dupont, a three-time Olympian, is a veteran of 14 previous worlds, with two medals from early in the 37-year-old's career — a silver from 2007 Aomori (Japan) and a bronze from 2009 Gangneung (South Korea). It's a fifth straight world visit for the entire rink, which claimed gold at the Euros in 2022 Ostersund (Sweden).
• ITALY (CC Dolomiti, Cortina D'Ampezzo) — Stefania Constantini (skip), Guilia Zardini Lacedelli (third), Elena Mathis (second), Angela Romei (lead), Marta Lo Deserto (alternate) How they qualified: Finished fourth at the 2024 European championships The skinny: Constantini, a 2022 Olympic gold medallist in Beijing, returns with the same lineup — albeit shuffled to feature Lacedelli at third — as last year's worlds, which was the 25-year-old's fourth straight as skip. They were the silver medallists at the Euros in 2023 Aberdeen (Scotland).
• JAPAN (Sapporo CC) — Sayaka Yoshimura (skip), Kaho Onodera (third), Yuna Kotani (second), Anna Ohmiya (lead), Mina Kobayashi (alternate) How they qualified: Won the 2025 Japan Curling Championships after Miyu Ueno finished second at the 2024 pan continental championships The skinny: For Yoshimura, it's a third visit to the worlds in 11 years and only her second trip as a skip. Kotani and Ohmiya were teammates with the 33-year-old for both previous appearances, and they have yet to track down a playoff spot together at worlds.
• KOREA (Uijeongbu CC) — Gim Eun-ji (skip), Kim Min-ji (third), Kim Su-ji (second), Seol Ye-eun (lead), Seol Ye-ji (alternate) How they qualified: Won the 2024 Korean curling championships and then finished third at the 2024 pan continental championships The skinny: The solid Korean lineup returns in tact after scoring bronze medals at last year's worlds. The 35-year-old Gim and this exact team also copped victories at the 2023 pan continental championships and the 2023 KIOTI National, an event on the Grand Slam of Curling schedule. Gim, herself, is a vet of five previous worlds, while her rink-mates have made a combined four visits.
• LITHUANIA (Skipas CC, Vilnius) — Virginija Paulauskaite (skip), Olga Dvojeglazova (third), Migle Kiudyte (second), Ruta Blaziene (lead), Justina Zalieckiene (alternate) How they qualified: Finished eighth at the 2024 European championships The skinny: It's the first-ever berth for Lithuania — male or female — at the worlds. And that rink — Canada's first foe of the worlds — is being guided by 53-year-old skip Paulauskaite. Lithuania copped the last spot from the 2024 Euros with just one win but with the tie-breaking edge over fellow 1-8 record-holders Estonia and Hungary.
• NORWAY (Snaroen CC, Oslo) — Marianne Roervik (skip), Kristin Skaslien (fourth), Mille Haslev Nordbye (second), Eilin Kjaerland (lead), Ingeborg Forbregd (alternate) How they qualified: Finished seventh at the 2024 European championships The skinny: Roervik, 41, returns nearly the same squad for a fourth consecutive appearance at the worlds. The exception is new lead Kjaerland in for Martine Rønning. It's the eighth visit — sixth as skip — for Roervik, who was the gold medallist at the world juniors in 2004 Trois-Rivières. Norway finished with a 4-5 record at the 2024 Euros.
• SCOTLAND (Holywood CC, Dumfries) — Sophie Jackson (skip), Rebecca Morrison (fourth), Jennifer Dodds (third), Sophie Sinclair (second), Fay Henderson (alternate) How they qualified: Finished third at the 2024 European championships The skinny: Jackson, who throws lead rocks, is another recent staple at worlds, having been in them the last three years and five total before this year's visit. But the 28-year-old has yet to skip a rink to the event's playoffs — a shock given the long proud history of curling in Scotland. Jackson and the same lineup she brought last year did, however, finish 6-3 at the 2024 Euros.
• SWEDEN (Sundyberg CK) — Anna Hasselborg (skip), Sara McManus (third), Agnes Knochenhauer (second), Sofia Mabergs (lead), Johanna Heldin (alternate) How they qualified: Finished second at the 2024 European championships The skinny: Considered one of the serious contenders to Homan's crown, decorated Hasselborg — the Olympic champ at 2018 Pyeongchang — is still shooting for her first world title. An eight-time grand-slam victor, the 35-year-old has iced the same squad for a decade, having made the worlds each of the last eight years, including this shot in hopes of finally finding glory after finishing 7-3 at the 2024 Euros.
• SWITZERLAND (CC Aarau) — Silvana Tirinzoni (skip), Alina Paetz (fourth), Carole Howald (second), Selina Witschonke (lead), Stefanie Berset (alternate) How they qualified: Won the 2024 European championships The skinny: Homan stepped in last winter to halt Tirinzoni's spectacular hold on the worlds from 2019-23, making her fit to avenge the loss to Canada a year ago in Sydney. The four-time grand-slam champ is primed for more international success, too, after going a perfect 9-0 at the 2024 Euros. The 45-year-old Tirinzoni returns with the same team which lost last year's championship final — 7-5 — to Homan, except for swapping the positions of Howald and Witschonke.
• TÜRKIYE (Milli Piyango CA, Erzurum) — Dilsat Yildiz (skip), Oznur Polat (third), Ifayet Safak Çalikusu (second), Berfin Sengul (lead), Iclal Karaman (alternate) How they qualified: Finished sixth at the 2024 European championships The skinny: Türkiye has surprisingly become a mainstay at the worlds, with 28-year-old skip Yildiz at the centre of that charge. She's brought a similar version of the current squad to worlds in the appearances dating back to her 2022 debut, but they have yet to make the playoffs. Yildez was 5-4 at the 2024 Euros.
• UNITED STATES (St. Paul CC) — Tabitha Peterson (skip), Cory Thiesse (third), Tara Peterson (second), Taylor Anderson-Heide (lead), Vicky Persinger (alternate) How they qualified: Finished fifth at the 2024 pan continental championships, without skip Peterson The skinny: Peterson, 36, aims to better the bronze she and her younger sister grabbed in 2021 Calgary, which is the only worlds medal earned in seven previous trips. In doing so, the five-time American champ added Anderson-Heide to the crew, which featured the Petersons and Thiesse in the last two worlds — both 6-6 ventures for the Minnesota rink.
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