World's best curlers back at it quickly with Players' Championship on tap
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It’s quite the quick turnaround for a handful of the teams just finished up at the men’s curling worlds.
Back on the ice at the 2025 AMJ Players’ Championship, the final event — and crown jewel — of the Grand Slam of Curling calendar, only hours after challenging for global supremacy.
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Included is Scotland’s Bruce Mouat, the mighty victor of the 2025 BKT World Men’s Curling Championship after Sunday’s thrilling 5-4 edge of Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller in the finale in Moose Jaw, Sask.
“We’re probably going to be hungover — I’m not going to lie,” said Mouat, moments after the final draw and looking ahead to another busy week after celebrating — of course — their triumph in Saskatchewan.
“It’s going to be fun, regardless.”
Mouat and the world kings — now two-time after also winning in 2023 — weren’t expecting just to be blurry-eyed for the Players’ Championship, either. They’re featured, as well, in Monday night’s Rio Mare Battle of the Sexes against Rachel Homan and her world champs in a unique curling adventure.
That meant travelling early Monday morning — at 5-ish a.m., lamented the Scots — to get to Toronto for both events.
“I did tweet (Homan), saying, ‘You better hope we’re hungover and tired,’” said Scotland lead Hammy McMillan Jr., with a grin.
“So I think they have a chance now.”
The squad from Scotland didn’t let that happen, though, by scoring five skins to Homan’s one for a $10,000 payday to charity.
When it comes to the grand slam, all the worlds combatants have a chance get right after heartbreak at Moose Jaw’s Temple Gardens Centre.
The reset at Toronto’s Mattamy Athletic Centre allows Canada’s Brad Jacobs and the others who fell short of the world title — Schwaller, USA’s Korey Dropkin, Italy’s Joël Retornaz and Germany’s Marc Muskatewitz — to end the 2024-25 curling season on a winning note.
Same goes for those on the women’s side — Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni, Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg, South Korea’s Kim Eun-jung and Japan’s Sayaka Yoshimura — who watched Homan raise the trophy a second straight season after the Ottawa team’s win in Uijeongbu, South Korea.
“We’re going to — still — give it our all,” said world bronze-medallist Jacobs, who is out to win the Players’ Championship without second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert.
The star-studded front end returned to Calgary on Monday for different reasons — Hebert for work and family obligations, and Gallant to get ready with wife Joceyln Peterman to represent Canada at the 2025 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship — meaning Tyler Tardi and Connor Njegovan will step into the second and lead roles respectively with Team Jacobs.
“We’ll try and make a bunch of shots,” added Jacobs.
HOW DOES THE PLAYERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP WORK?
The fifth — and final — showdown for the world’s best curlers is considered the ‘crown jewel’ of the grand-slam circuit.
The event dates back to 1993, with the largest purse of the GSOC on the table at $480,000 — split between the men’s and women’s divisions …
• The top 12 men’s teams and top 12 women’s teams from world rankings compete for the title
• Each division is made up of two six-team pools for round-robin action (streamed live on HomeTeamLive.com)
• Tuesday’s round-robin schedule is at 11:30 a.m., 3 p.m., 6:30 p.m. — all times ET — followed by daily round-robin action Wednesday-Friday at 8 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 3 p.m., 6:30 p.m. — all times ET (Thursday and Friday on Sportsnet)
• After the round-robin schedule wraps up, the six teams with the best overall records advance to the playoffs (if necessary, a tiebreaker draw is slated for early Saturday (11:30 a.m. ET)
• Saturday features the quarterfinals (3:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet) followed by the semifinals (7:30 p.m. ET, SportsnetOne)
• Sunday’s finals begin with the women’s championship (noon ET, Sportsnet360) and follow with the men’s finale (4:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet360)
WHO ARE THE TEAMS?
Women’s Division
• Kerri Einarson (Canada)
• Satsuki Fujisawa (Japan)
• Gim Eun-ji (South Korea)
• Ha Seung-youn (South Korea)
• Anna Hasselborg (Sweden)
• Rachel Homan (Canada)
• Kim Eun-jung (South Korea)
• Xenia Schwaller (Switzerland)
• Momoha Tabata (Japan)
• Silvana Tirinzoni (Switzerland)
• Isabella Wrana (Sweden)
• Sayaka Yoshimura (Japan)
Men’s Division
• Korey Dropkin (USA)
• Matt Dunstone (Canada)
• John Epping (Canada)
• Brad Gushue (Canada)
• Marco Hoesli (Switzerland)
• Brad Jacobs (Canada)
• Mike McEwen (Canada)
• Bruce Mouat (Scotland)
• Marc Muskatewitz (Germany)
• Joël Retornaz (Italy)
• Yannick Schwaller (Switzerland)
• Ross Whyte (Scotland)
WHAT WAS THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES?
The Rio Mare Battle of the Sexes, presented by The Curling Group, kicked off the week in front of a sold-out crowd Monday night, also on the ice of Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Fittingly, the unique event matched the two newly crowned world champion teams — Homan and Mouat — in an eight-end skins’ match, with teams competing to win ends — each one worth cash towards their charity of choice.
Teams won an end by scoring two or more with the hammer or stealing one without the hammer. If neither requirement is met, the amount was carried over to the next end and the hammer flips to the other team.
Canada’s Homan, comprised of the super skip and her Ottawa Curling Club rink of Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes, played to support the Sandra Schmirler Foundation, while Scotland’s Mouat, featuring the super skip, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and McMillan Jr., chose to grab cash for Charlie Boy’s Cancer Fundraiser.
Mouat won the first, third, fourth, seventh and extra ends and their respective carryovers to pocket $10,000, while Homan bagged $2,000 by winning the sixth end, with its carryover from the fifth.
On two rock deliveries during the game, Team Mouat overcame a unique-to-the-night ‘sweep swap’ that saw the sweepers have to use old school Brownie Brooms as forced on them by Homan.
“We’re so excited to put on a great show for the fans while supporting a cause that means so much to the curling community,” added Homan. “Knowing that our funds from this event will go to the Sandra Schmirler Foundation makes it even more special.”
In addition to their winnings from the skins game, a portion of ticket sales went to each charity.
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