STEINBACH, Man. — Friday is moving day at the Crown Royal Players’ Championship as we’re down to the final draws for pool play.
Only six teams in each division will advance to the playoffs in the prestigious Grand Slam of Curling event.
Stream live on watch.rockchannel.com. Broadcast coverage in Canada on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ begins with Draw 9 at 1 p.m. ET / Noon CT.
Keep it here all day for the latest results.
QUICK LINKS: DRAW SCHEDULE & RESULTS | STANDINGS | BROADCAST INFO
MUST-SEE MATCHES
It’s always exciting whenever Canada’s Team Rachel Homan and Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg face off, but there’s a lot at stake when they meet again in Draw 13 (1 p.m. ET / noon CT).
Homan (1-0-0-2, three points) has a busy Olympic tune-up day, with Team Tabitha Peterson of the United States also on tap in Draw 15 (9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT), and needs to get back in the win column to remain in contention.
Hasselborg (1-1-1-1, six points) has had a result of every kind this week, but a regulation win will do wonders as her team is also trailing Team Isabella Wranå in a points race to represent Sweden at the World Women’s Curling Championship. Wranå entered the week with about a 14-point lead, meaning Hasselborg needs to at least qualify for the playoffs here to make up the difference.
Winnipeg’s own Team Matt Dunstone (0-2-0-1, four points) also has a busy day, taking on Italy’s Team Joël Retornaz at noon and Scotland’s Team Ross Whyte in the evening.
Hope you already have your ticket for Draw 15, as it’s already sold out.
WHO’S IN, WHO’S OUT
The playoff picture looks like an abstract painting right now as nobody has qualified on the women’s side … yet. Team Ikue Kitazawa and Team Momoha Tabata are the only ones that have been eliminated.
Three teams are through on the men’s side. Here’s how that division looks.
Men’s Division
• Team Kyle Waddell (3-2-0-0, 13 points): The undefeated Scottish squad secured a bye to the semifinals with a 7-6 shootout win in Draw 12 against Whyte.
• Team Xu Xiaoming (3-1-0-1, 11 points): Xu qualified for the playoffs for the first time in a Grand Slam after defeating Edin 8-7 in Draw 12.
• Team Yannick Schwaller (3-0-1-0, 10 points): Schwaller is in as a maximum of six teams can get to 10 or more points.
In the mix for the final three spots: Team Joël Retornaz (2-1-1-0, nine points), Team Ross Whyte (2-0-2-0, eight points), Team Bruce Mouat (2-1-0-1, eight points), Team Matt Dunstone (0-2-0-1, four points) and Team John Shuster (1-0-0-2, three points).
Eliminated: Team Daniel Casper, Team Mike McEwen, Team Brad Jacobs and Team Niklas Edin.
Women’s Division
In the mix for six spots: Almost everyone. No, seriously.
Team Eun-ji Gim (3-0-0-1, nine points), Team Tabitha Peterson (2-1-1-0, nine points), Team Silvana Tirinzoni (2-1-0-0, eight points), Team Satsuki Fujisawa (2-1-0-2, eight points), Team Anna Hasselborg (1-1-1-1, six points), Team Kerri Einarson (2-0-0-2, six points), Team Sayaka Yoshimura (2-0-0-2, six points), Team Xenia Schwaller (1-0-2-1, five points), Team Isabella Wranå (1-1-0-2, five points) and Team Rachel Homan (1-0-0-2, three points).
Eliminated: Team Ikue Kitazawa and Team Momoha Tabata
FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Draw 12: 9:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. CT
• Xu 8, Edin 7: Watch Replay (Cantonese commentary) | Linescore
• Waddell 7, Whyte 6 (shootout): Watch Replay | Linescore
• Einarson 6, Kitazawa 3: Watch Replay | Linescore
• Fujisawa 5, Peterson 4 (shootout): Watch Replay | Linescore
Draw 13: 1 p.m. ET / Noon CT
• Tirinzoni vs. Yoshimura: Watch Live | Linescore
• Homan vs. Hasselborg: Watch Live | Linescore
• Casper vs. Shuster: Watch Live | Linescore
• Dunstone vs. Retornaz: Watch Live | Linescore
Draw 14: 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT
• Gim vs. Tabata: Watch Live | Linescore
• X. Schwaller vs. Wranå: Watch Live | Linescore
• Mouat vs. Y. Schwaller: Watch Live | Linescore
• Jacobs vs. McEwen: Watch Live | Linescore
Draw 15: 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT
• Dunstone vs. Whyte: Watch Live | Linescore
• Shuster vs. Edin: Watch Live | Linescore
• Homan vs. Peterson: Watch Live | Linescore
• Tirinzoni vs. Einarson: Watch Live | Linescore
ABOUT THE EVENT
The Crown Royal Players’ Championship is the fifth and final Grand Slam of Curling event of the season, featuring 12 of the top men’s teams and 12 of the top women’s teams from around the world.
Both divisions are split into two pools of six for round-robin play. The top six teams overall advance to the playoffs, with the best two receiving byes to the semifinals. If necessary, one tiebreaker round will be played on Saturday.
If a game is tied after eight ends during the round-robin stage, a draw-to-the-button shootout will determine the winner. Teams receive three points for a regulation win, two points for a shootout win and one point for a shootout loss.
Extra ends will be played instead of shootouts during the tiebreakers and playoffs. The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, with both finals on tap Sunday.