News Players' Championship

TORONTO — Reigning world champion Alina Paetz was golden again defeating Jennifer Jones 8-5 Friday in the Players’ Championship.

Paetz qualified for the playoffs with a 4-1 round-robin record. Jones finished out of the playoffs at 1-4.

It was a back-and-forth battle in a rematch of last month’s world final. Paetz scored a deuce in the third to go up 3-1 as she made the hit with her final throw to get shot rock and let out a sigh of relief when her other stone stuck around. Jones pulled ahead by one in the fourth though as she sat two and slashed a guard to the button for three points.

After Jones just missed a double, Paetz was able to recover drawing for a three-ender of her own in the fifth to pull back ahead 6-4. Paetz held Jones to one in the sixth and pulled off a great shot in the seventh hitting off a rock from the side to redirect towards the button and nudge the counter just far enough to score a deuce.

Elsewhere, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan and Edmonton’s Val Sweeting also finished with 4-1 records and secured the byes to the semifinals due to superior draw-to-the-button totals. Homan wrapped up pool play with a 9-6 extra-end victory over Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, Ont. Sweeting finished her round-robin schedule earlier in the day.

Middaugh (3-2) will meet Russia’s Anna Sidorova in a tiebreaker Saturday morning. Sidorova (3-2) stole three in the first and scored a 6-3 win over Scotland’s Eve Muirhead (3-2).

Edmonton’s Heather Nedohin clinched a playoff spot at 3-2 an 8-5 victory over Binia Feltscher of Switzerland. Feltscher finished with a 1-4 record. Nedohin faces Muirhead in the quarterfinals while Paetz plays the tiebreaker winner.

In the men’s division, Switzerland’s Sven Michel ended his tournament on a high note with a point in the final end to win 6-5 over reigning world champion Niklas Edin of Sweden. Michel finished with a 1-4 record while Edin heads home winless at 0-5.