Canada Shut Out of Historic Slam Weekend

The Players’ Championship wrapped up in Toronto with Anna Hasselborg’s Swedish entry making the biggest mark on history.

Hasselborg, Sara McManus, Agnes Knochenhauer and Sofia Mabergs started 0-2 with losses to Krista McCarville and Rachel Homan before rattling off six straight wins for the title. They upended Olympic champion Eve Muirhead 7-5 in the quarterfinals, beat Homan in a semifinal rematch 8-7 and took out world bronze medallists Team Kerri Einarson 6-5 in the finale at Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Team Hasselborg hadn’t won a Slam title until Canada’s Wayne Middaugh came on board as coach after the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics. The latest victory marked the seventh Grand Slam title for the squad and they are now the first women’s team to to win all four majors in the Grand Slam of Curling series.

The Swedes cashed in $35,000 for the championship victory plus a $50,000 bonus for winning the Pinty’s Cup—their second Cup crown.

“We said this morning we were on the revenge train,” Hasselborg told Sportsnet. “It feels really, really good and it’s very cool to capture all the majors.”

Hasselborg and McManus managed the feat despite wrestling with the aftereffects of food poisoning.

“We’ve definitely been under the weather,” Hasselborg said. “I was not sure that I was going to play just 40 minutes before this game. That’s pretty crazy now that we’re standing here now as the Players’ Championship champs.”

Tracy Fleury joined Homan in the semifinals while Muirhead, Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa, Sweden’s Isabella Wraana and triple world champion Silvana Tirinzoni made the quarterfinals.

On the men’s side, Scotland’s Bruce Mouat shook off the rust—we’re not sure they’ve played since winning Olympic silver in February—and repeated as Players’ men’s champions.

Mouat, Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan continued their stunning run of form in Greater Toronto Area by manhandling Marco Hoesli (SUI), Matt Dunstone (Regina) and Kevin Koe (Edmonton) by a combined 22-9 in points scored. They then took out Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen in the quarterfinals, Brendan Bottcher in the semis and arch-rival Niklas Edin of Sweden 8-3 in the finale.

Like Team Hasselborg, the Scots took home $35,000 for the Players’ title plus another $50,000 for the men’s Pinty’s Cup.

“I know the boys and myself train so hard to get to this level and prove we’re right up at the top of the standings,” Mouat said. “With two titles out of the three this year, it really is a very special achievement.

“It would have been nice to get five in a row and equal Kevin (Martin’s record) but maybe some other time.”

Edin had dispatched Brad Gushue in their semifinal, for a fifth time in televised games since February. The Swedes also defeated Brad Jacobs, Bottcher, McEwen and Italy’s Joel Retornaz en route to the final.

Edin played the entire event with three players, missing regular lead Christoffer Sundgren due to injury.

The final Slam event of the season, the Champions Cup, gets underway May 3 in Olds, Alta.