News Players' Championship

TORONTO — Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson came through in the clutch to clinch a playoff spot at the Players’ Championship.

The Tour Challenge Tier 2 winner Einarson scored a deuce in the eighth end to edge Tier 1 champion Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland 6-5 during Draw 10 Friday morning.

Einarson finished round-robin play with a 3-2 record to advance to the quarterfinals. Tirinzoni already secured her spot at 3-1 and faces Ottawa’s Rachel Homan (4-0) in her final round-robin game this afternoon. 

Meanwhile, Edmonton’s Val Sweeting held off a comeback attempt from Alina Paetz of Switzerland to win 9-7. Sweeting improved to a 2-2 record with one round-robin match remaining against Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones this afternoon’s Draw 12. 

Sweeting opened the scoring big time with a four-ender in the first. The teams alternated deuces through two and three and Paetz (1-3) powered through with a three-ender in the fourth to close the gap to within one. Paetz forced Sweeting to a single in five and added another pair of points in six to tie it 7-7. Sweeting took two in the seventh to reclaim the lead and prevailed.

The five-time Players’ Championship winner Jones defeated Anna Sidorova of Russia 6-4. Jones has qualified with a 3-1 record while Sidorova slipped to 1-3.

American Erika Brown defeated Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ont., 6-5. Brown improved to a 2-2 record while Fleury will miss the playoffs and heads home finishing at 1-4. 

NOTES: The Players’ Championship is the fourth major and sixth event of the 2015-16 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season and runs through to Sunday at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre. … The Rogers Grand Slam Cup will also be awarded to the overall season champions following the conclusion of the Players’ Championship. Rachel Homan mathematically clinched the women’s title with the men’s champion to be determined. … Winners of the Players’ Championship earn berths to the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup running April 26 to May 1 in Sherwood Park, Alta.