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Sinclair slides to 2-0 record at Players’ Championship

TORONTO — It was a good day at the office for Jamie Sinclair and her American team at the Players’ Championship.

Team Sinclair picked up a pair of wins Wednesday to jump out to a 2-0 record in the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tournament at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Sinclair, who finished fourth at the world championship last month, downed Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa 7-1 during the morning draw and edged Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni 6-5 in the afternoon.

“It feels really good, especially coming off of a pretty tough worlds last game,” Sinclair said. “It was nice to be able to recover at home for a week and a bit and then come here and perform. It just feels really good to know the team is still in it, we’re still out there fighting and playing well.”

After Tirinzoni (1-1) took one in the second, Sinclair scored a deuce in the third and stole one in the fourth to lead 3-1. Tirinzoni was held to another single in five and Sinclair extended her advantage to 5-2 with another pair in six. However, Tirinzoni erased the deficit counting three in the seventh and Sinclair had to wrap in her last shot of the final frame to get the winner.

“It was a little nerve-racking, I’m not going to lie, but pretty much the whole game we felt in control,” Sinclair said. “That brought a bout of calmness. The last end was a little bit dicey but just super-proud of my sweepers for getting it full four-foot.”

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Meanwhile, Laura Crocker skipped Edmonton’s Team Rocque to a wild two-win Wednesday as well after trouncing Ottawa’s Rachel Homan 9-3 in the fourth draw.

Crocker broke a 1-1 tie in the third end springing Homan’s rocks loose to score five points.

Homan (0-2) drew for a single in the fourth and stole one in the fifth to narrow the gap 6-3 but shook hands early as Crocker hit a three-pointer in the sixth.

Crocker, who recently captured the mixed doubles national title with Kirk Muyres, has moved up to fourth stones this week as Kelsey Rocque was unable to make it to the tournament. Kendra Lilly, from Thunder Bay’s Team McCarville, is subbing at third.

Team Rocque completed a comeback victory over EunJung Kim of South Korea during the morning draw by scoring three in the ninth and stealing a trio in the 10th to win 10-8.

Jennifer Jones’s title defence at the Players’ Championship is off to a solid start with her Winnipeg team climbing to a 2-0 record. Jones rolled right past American Nina Roth 9-2 in only five ends.

“Obviously, it’s always nice to have a good start and put yourself in a position to maybe smoothly make it into the playoffs rather than try and scrounge your way in,” said Team Jones second Jill Officer, who threw a perfect 100 percent in the game. “We’re in a good position and felt like we managed the ice very well. It was a little bit patchier and trickier today but it was good.”

While the reigning world champion Jones didn’t start off with the hammer, Roth had a disastrous opening end and gave up a steal of four. After forcing Roth (1-1) to draw against two in the second, Jones made an in-turn split to score three points in the third and pull away 7-1.

Roth, who represented the U.S. at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, was forced to another lone point in four and shook hands after the fifth when Jones pulled off a runback double to tack on two more points.

“We love playing here at Mattamy Athletic Centre,” Officer said. “It’s such a great experience and just awesome to be playing in downtown Toronto, old Maple Leaf Gardens and everything is so convenient. Lots of restaurants and shopping to do in our spare time so we just love it here. To come in here as defending champs is always special as well.”

Jones has won the Players’ Championship women’s title a record six times.

Calgary’s Chelsea Carey clobbered Fujisawa 10-2 in six ends to bring her record level at 1-1. Carey, who captured the Meridian Canadian Open in January, cruised to a 6-0 lead with a deuce in the second followed by back-to-back double steals in three and four. The Pyeongchang Winter Games bronze medallist Fujisawa (0-2) got on the board counting a couple in the fifth, but it was game over as Carey continued to pile on the points with a four-ender in six.

Scotland’s Eve Muirhead topped Kim 7-4. Muirhead, a three-time Players’ Championship winner, improved to a 1-1 record while Kim fell to 0-2.

The Players’ Championship features 12 of the top women’s teams and 12 of the top men’s teams in the world. Teams are split into two pools for round-robin play with the best eight overall qualifying for the weekend playoffs. The GSOC’s Bonus Cup, awarded to the season men’s and women’s champions, will also be handed out following the conclusion of the Players’ Championship.

Round-robin action continues at 8 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