Schwaller upsets Einarson at Players’ Championship to score first win in GSOC
TORONTO — Xenia Schwaller and her Swiss squad scored their first win in the Grand Slam of Curling series on Wednesday morning in the Princess Auto Players’ Championship.
The reigning world junior champions upset Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., 6-4 during Draw 4 action at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Schwaller, seeded 11th in the tournament, took control in the second half with an open hit to score four points in the fifth end.
Einarson regrouped in the sixth with a draw for a deuce, Schwaller got a single in the seventh and handed over the hammer for the final frame. The five-time Grand Slam champion didn’t throw her last and opted to concede though with a slim chance at getting the equalizer to force the extra end.
Schwaller improved to a 1-1 record while Einarson dropped to 0-2.
Elsewhere in Draw 4, Winnipeg’s Team Jennifer Jones (1-1) scored a single in the seventh end and stole two in the eighth to earn an 8-5 win over Italy’s Team Stefania Constantini (0-2).
It’s the final Grand Slam for Jones, who is retiring from women’s curling after the season finale event.
In men’s play, Brad Jacobs pulled off an amazing angle raise slash that stuck for two points in the eighth end to lift his Winnipeg-based club to a 6-5 victory over Calgary’s Team Kevin Koe.
Scotland’s Team James Craik edged Switzerland’s Team Yannick Schwaller 7-6 in an extra end.
Jacobs, Koe, Craik and Schwaller all hold 1-1 records.
PRINCESS AUTO PLAYERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Live Scores | Draw Schedule | Broadcast Schedule
UP NEXT
The Princess Auto Players’ Championship continues with Draw 5 at 11:30 a.m. ET. Tickets are available at the Mattamy Athletic Centre box office and online at Ticketmaster.ca.
Broadcast coverage begins with Draw 9 Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET on Sportsnet, Sportsnet+ (Canada) and gsoclive.com (international).
NOTES
The Princess Auto Players’ Championship is the fifth and final Grand Slam of Curling event of the 2023-24 season featuring the top 12 men’s teams and top 12 women’s teams from around the world. … Both divisions are split into two pools of six for round-robin play. The best six teams advance to the playoffs with the top two teams receiving byes to the semifinals. If necessary, a tiebreaker round will be played Saturday morning to determine the final playoff berths. … The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday with the finals on tap Sunday.
