News Players' Championship

Our Players’ Championship preview series continues with the women’s division Pool B where the battle for the Rogers Grand Slam Cup comes down to the wire.

Masters champion Val Sweeting sits at the top of the table but Rachel Homan is just three points behind in the chase for the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season title. The Players’ Championship is the final stop on the series for 2014-15 and offers more points and more intrigue.

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Before the Players’ Championship begins Tuesday night in Toronto, let’s take a closer look at the Pool B teams and who else could challenge for the title.

TEAM SWEETING

Lineup: Val Sweeting, Lori Olson-Johns, Dana Ferguson and Rachelle Brown

Hometown: Edmonton

WCT year-to-date OOM: 2nd

Team Sweeting is the front-runner in the Rogers Grand Slam Cup standings. They earned their first Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title at the Masters in November and captured the Canada Cup in December. Sweeting represented Alberta at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts for the second consecutive year and won the silver medal. The team sits just behind Team Jones on the year-to-date order of merit and a Players’ Championship victory would cap a remarkable run this season.

TEAM HOMAN

Lineup: Rachel Homan, Emma Miskew, Joanne Courtney and Lisa Weagle

Hometown: Ottawa

WCT year-to-date OOM: 3rd

Team Homan enters the Players’ Championship after winning the Pomeroy Inn & Suites Prairie Showdown in March. This season on the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling series they reached the semifinals at the Masters and finished runner-up at the Canadian Open. Homan has made it to the Players’ Championship final twice already in her career and a third time could be the charm.

TEAM TIRINZONI

Lineup: Silvana Tirinzoni, Manuela Siegrist, Esther Neuenschwander and Marlene Albrecht

Hometown: Aarau, Switzerland

WCT year-to-date OOM: 7th

Tirinzoni kicked off this season winning the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard in September and are coming off a strong showing at the Pomeroy Inn & Suites Prairie Showdown in March where they finished 5-0 in the round robin and made it to the final. They were semifinalists at the Players’ Championship a year ago and should work their way into the playoff picture again.

TEAM MIDDAUGH

Lineup: Sherry Middaugh, Jo-Ann Rizzo, Lee Merklinger and Leigh Armstrong (alternate: Lori Eddy)

Hometown: Coldwater, Ont.

WCT year-to-date OOM: 9th

This season, Team Middaugh defeated Team Muirhead to win the AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic and finished runner-up at the 2015 Ontario Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Middaugh edged Tirinzoni and McDonald in the C-side to qualify for the playoffs at the Canadian Open. They should play a factor in the playoff picture at the Players’ Championship.

TEAM SIGFRIDSSON

Lineup: Maria Prytz, Christina Bertrup, Alison Kreviazuk and Margaretha Sigfridsson

Hometown: Skelleftea, Sweden

WCT year-to-date OOM: 10th

Sigfridsson earned the silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and was runner-up when Toronto hosted the Players’ Championship in 2013. Kreviazuk joins the team here as a spare. She previously played with Team Homan and is set to meet her former rink during the opening draw (April 7, 7 p.m. ET). They stunned Team Jones in the Winnipeg’s rink backyard during the semifinals at the Masters but came up short against Team Sweeting.

TEAM MCDONALD

Lineup: Kristy McDonald, Kate Cameron, Lisa Blixhavn and Raunora Westcott

Hometown: Winnipeg

WCT year-to-date OOM: 13th

McDonald won the 2010 Manitoba Lotteries Women’s Curling Classic and was a finalist at the 2012 Masters playing third with Team Carey. She formed her own team for this season and qualified for the playoffs at the 2015 Manitoba Scotties Tournament of Hearts.