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Edin gets by Gunnlaugson at Players’ Championship

TORONTO — Niklas Edin has picked up where he left off at the Players’ Championship.

The reigning champ from Sweden scored a 6-4 victory over Winnipeg’s Jason Gunnlaugson to kick off his title defence during the third draw Wednesday.

Team Edin travelled to the Players’ Championship straight from Las Vegas where they defeated Canada’s Team Gushue for the world championship Sunday.

“We’re kind of tired,” said Team Edin third Oskar Eriksson, who also earned silver for Sweden at the Pyeongchang Winter Games. “It’s been a long season with the Olympics too so it’s going to be nice after the [season-ending] Champions Cup to just lie in bed for a couple of weeks.”

Gunnlaugson (1-1) was in charge to start forcing Edin to a single in the first and took two points in the second. Edin was limited to another lone point in the third and got a lucky break in the fourth as Gunnlaugson came up light on his last to concede a couple.

“Both teams played really good from the get-go,” Eriksson said. “They actually outplayed us the first few ends. We were lucky to stay in it even though we made almost every shot. He came up short on the draw in the fourth. That’s a big turnaround in a game. We just kept making shots and it came down to the last shot and we got the win, so it was a great game.”

The Tour Challenge Tier 2 winner Gunnlaugson got another deuce in the sixth to tie it back up at 4-4 and Edin added another pair in seven.

It looked like Edin ran Gunnlaugson out of rocks in the eighth with a runback double takeout on his last. Gunnlaugson briefly considered a split off one of his guards before shaking hands instead.

“He’s good with the angles and had a couple guards he could maybe make a runback and roll in with the shooter,” Eriksson said. “He had a look at it and maybe it was there but he didn’t go for it so we’re happy with the win.”

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Elsewhere, world silver medallist Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., also got off to a good start doubling up on Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher 8-4 in a repeat of the Brier final.

Team Gushue was short-handed as second Brett Gallant returned home after the world championship to attend his grandfather’s funeral. Gallant is expected to rejoin the crew later this week.

Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., drew even to a 1-1 record with a 7-4 win over Scotland’s Kyle Smith.

Calgary’s Kevin Koe kicked things off by taking down Toronto’s John Epping 7-3. Epping’s record is now at 1-1.

Olympic gold medallist Anna Hasselborg of Sweden jumped out of the gate downing Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson 6-1.

Round-robin action continues at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre starting at 4 p.m. ET. Television coverage begins Thursday at Noon ET on Sportsnet with online streaming available at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare TV (international).

April 8-13, 2025 Mattamy Athletic Centre Toronto, ON