World's best curlers back at it quickly with Players' Championship on tap
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.
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.”
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.
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)
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)
The Rio Mare Battle of the Sexes, presented by The Curling Group, kicks off the week in front of a sold-out crowd Monday night, also on the ice of Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Fittingly, the unique event matches the two newly crowned world champion teams — Homan and Mouat.
It’s a eight-end skins’ match, with teams competing to win ends — each one worth $1,000 towards their charity of choice.
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.
“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.”
Teams winn 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.
If the game is tied after eight ends, a draw to the button is used to determine the winner.
In addition to their winnings from the skins game, a portion of ticket sales goes to each charity.
Twice in the game on non-skip stones — once during ends 1-4 and again during ends 5-8 — Team Homan can call for a ‘sweep swap’, which forced Team Mouat’s brushes to be substituted with old school Brownie Brooms.
And an additional twist to the rules will be announced before the start of the game.
