Teams announced for Players’ Championship in Toronto
The field is now set for the 26th running of the Players’ Championship taking place April 10-15 at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto.
Twelve of the top men’s teams and 12 of the top women’s teams from around the world will compete in the prestigious Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling tournament. See below for the full list of teams.
Teams are split into two pools of six for round-robin play with the best eight teams qualifying for the playoffs. The draw schedule will be announced in the near future.
Full-event and weekend passes plus single draw tickets are available for the Players’ Championship, click here or call 1-844-389-4754 to order yours today.
If you can’t make it Toronto, television coverage will be available on Sportsnet and CBC plus online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare TV (international). Check out the full TV schedule by clicking here.
The Players’ Championship predates the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling, held every season since 1993, and remained the crown jewel of the tour when the series was created in 2001-02.
Hockey’s shrine formerly known as Maple Leaf Gardens has been building a curling legacy in recent years as this will be the fifth time in six seasons Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre has held the Players’ Championship. Right from the start, history was made as Eve Muirhead became the youngest skip to win a Grand Slam at 22 years of age when she captured the Players’ Championship women’s title in 2013. Muirhead was also victorious at the Players’ in 2015 and 2016.
Brad Jacobs earned his first-ever Grand Slam at the Players’ Championship in 2015 and Brad Gushue claimed the title the following year to complete a career Grand Slam having won all four of the original majors.
Jennifer Jones captured her record sixth Players’ Championship women’s title last season while Niklas Edin is the reigning men’s champion.
Teams were invited based on the World Curling Tour’s year-to-date standings.
Also on the line is the GSOC Bonus Cup, which is awarded to the 2017-18 champions in the series and carries a $75,000 bonus. The winning teams will earn invitations to the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup running April 24-29 at Calgary’s WinSport Arena.
