SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan opened the Ford Womens World Curling Championship with a 7-5 win over Russia on Saturday. The skip and her teammates know properly managing sleep, diet, stress and downtime for another eight days will keep those wins coming. Homan, third Emma Miskew and front end Alison Kreviazuk and Lisa Weagle have played in enough national and international events to know their off-ice schedule impacts the on-ice performance, particularly in the important games at the end of the tournament. The Canadians will sleep as much as they can and eat at pre-scouted establishments that serve healthy food. When they need to mentally "check out", the Ottawa Curling Club foursome will play cards or "Heads Up", which is a game app popularized by Ellen DeGeneres. In short, winning a world title is a marathon and not a sprint. "We make sure were trying to keep it as loose as possible when were not on the ice because its pretty stressful out there wearing the Maple Leaf," Homan said. "We want to be as stress-free as possible when were not playing." For Homan, that means going to the gym a couple of times during the tournament. Miskew doesnt love napping, but she knows its important to lay down, put her feet up and close her eyes for awhile, particularly on a day when Canada plays morning and evening draws and not in the afternoon. Thats Canadas schedule Sunday when the host team faces the Czech Republic in the morning draw and the United States in the evening. Those days are the toughest when it comes to eating at the right time of the day. "The eating schedule is challenging because you eat in the morning, have a game and youre starving to eat a big lunch," Miskew explains. "Youre not really hungry before your next game, but an end or two in youre starving. You almost have to force yourself to eat before the game so youre not dying during the game." Canada had a kind opening-day schedule in Saint John with one game in the afternoon draw. Homan had hammer coming home with the score tied 5-5. She didnt have to throw her last stone because Russian skip Anna Sidorova was heavy with a draw. Latvias Evita Regza, South Koreas Ji-Sun Kim and Swedens Margaretha Sigfridsson also opened with wins, while Scotlands Kerry Barr, Denmarks Madeleine Dupont and Anna Kubeskova of the Czech Republic joined Russia at 0-1. Canadas average age is 25.5 and the Russians are even younger at 23.5. Sidorova, vice-skip Margarita Fomina and front end Alexandra Saitova and Ekaterina Galkina went 3-6 at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Sidorova, 25, is making her fifth straight appearance at a world championship and her third as a skip. Russia was scheduled to arrive in Saint John on Thursday, but they were delayed until Friday because of winter storms that wreaked havoc on air travel midweek. The Canada-Russia opener wasnt a classic as both teams made mistakes. But when Canada made a costly error, Russia let them off the hook with one of their own. "I cant say were really tired," Sidorova said. "Were ready to play. We still want to win. "We need to be much better than the others. Thats probably the goal this week and hopefully we will (be). The game was pretty tight, but in the end, they were just better than us." Miskews shooting percentage was 90 per cent compared to Fominas 78. Homan outcurled Sidorova 89 to 66 per cent. Saitova at 78 per cent and Galkina at 91 outcurled Kreviazuk and Weagle both at 71. Kreviazuk missed shots in the fifth and seventh ends, but Russia handed momentum right back with lethal errors. Canada scored two points in those ends to lead 5-3. "Its the first game so youre not going to know the ice perfectly," Homan said. "A couple of spots were learning and a few misses here and there, not because were throwing badly, just because were learning the ice." Russia countered with two in the ninth to tie it up. Homans double takeout that end limited damage from Miskew miscue. Another double from the Canadian skip in the eighth erased Russias chance to score two and forced Sidorova to blank the end. Homan was pleased to start the tournament with a win in front of 2,848 at Harbour Station, which seats 6,000 for curling this week. "It wouldnt have been fun to lose that one with everyone coming out to cheer us on," the 24-year-old Canadian skip said. "Im glad we got the win under our belts. Now weve got the night off to have some dinner with friends and family and re-group for tomorrow." Homan and company won the bronze medal at last years world womens championship in Riga, Latvia. Their reward for a 13-0 record at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Montreal was a return trip to the world championship and in their own country this time. The Jennifer Jones team from Winnipeg went undefeated in Sochi to claim gold for Canada. Edmontons Kelsey Rocque won the world junior title earlier this month in Switzerland. Homan wants to continue the domination of Canadian women on the world stage. The last Canadian team to win a womens world curling title was Jones in 2008 in Vernon, B.C. Kelly Scott (2007) and Colleen Jones (2004) earned Canadas other world womens titles in the last decade. Ricardo Allen Jersey . "This isnt really the week you want to lose Chris Greaves," fellow lineman Glenn January said Wednesday after practice. Greaves is expected to miss several weeks after suffering a knee injury in last weeks 36-28 win over the Ottawa Redblacks. Logan Paulsen Jersey . McCutchen hit his first home run in over a month, doubled twice and scored two runs to help the Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 on Sunday and take three of four from the defending NL West champions. http://www.officialatlantafalconsfootbal...e-jersey-womens. With timely hitting and good pitching, the Marlins are one win away from sweeping the slumping Houston Astros. Vic Beasley Jersey . "[People] keep asking that question and its not a legit question because we dont have that right, we havent arrived yet," Casey responded. "Weve got to take each game at a time, each possession at a time and look at it that way. Ryan Schraeder Jersey .com) - Bayern Munich winger Xherdan Shaqiri is expected to miss the next two weeks because of a thigh injury.The Toronto Raptors have struggled in recent weeks and hope to snap out of it Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Raptors have lost eight of their last 11 games and are 1-1 on a three-game road trip. They defeated the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, then suffered a 92-86 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies tonight. You can watch the game live on TSN2 at 7pm et/4pm pt. Lou Williams scored 21 points off the bench and All-Star Kyle Lowry, a Philadelphia native, ended with 20 points for the Raptors. Jonas Valanciunas finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. Toronto, which still holds a comfortable 9 1/2-game lead in the Atlantic Division, shot just 31.8 percent and fell to 11-8 on the road. Once our offense catches up with our defense well be back to...winning more games, Lowry said. Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan, who recently missed 21 games with a groin injury and was held scoreless his previous two games, finished with six points on only 2-of-11 shooting. Valanciunas is listted as questionable Friday with a sore calf.dddddddddddd The Raptors will host the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. Philadelphia has lost three in a row and five of its last six games, including Wednesdays 98-91 setback to the New York Knicks. Michael Carter-Williams led the Sixers with 27 points, seven assists and six rebounds, while Robert Covington scored 17 points. Henry Sims chipped in 11 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for the 76ers, who shot 36.7 percent from the floor and gave up 18 points on 14 turnovers. I was just trying to keep us in the game, Carter-Williams said. I was trying to keep it close and hopefully at the end we could squeeze it out. Sixers forward Nerlens Noel (illness) is probable Friday and forward Luc Mbah a Moute (knee) is questionable. Philadelphia is just 3-17 at home and will visit the Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans next. The Sixers have lost the first two meetings with the Raptors this season and will host them on March 2. 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