With the crowd buzzing, Team Mouat making noise again at Players’ Championship
TORONTO — The Pinty’s Pub at the Princess Auto Players’ Championship has turned into the Team Bruce Mouat supporters section.
Team Mouat’s families, wearing their finest kilts, made the trip across the pond to the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling major tournament at the Mattamy Athletic Centre and have been cheering and singing, “We like to Mouat, Mouat,” while waving the Scottish flag proudly between ends.
Likewise, Mouat and his squad have been rocking on the ice as they dispatched Winnipeg’s Team Mike McEwen 7-5 during Saturday’s men’s quarterfinals to remain undefeated.
The defending champion Mouat qualified 3-0 through the A-side of the triple knockout preliminary stage.
Team Mouat will now meet Team Brendan Bottcher in the semifinals after the Edmonton club scored four points in the fourth end and again in the sixth to bounce Winnipeg’s Team Jason Gunnlaugson 8-3.
Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., ousted Calgary’s Team Kevin Koe 4-2 on the other side of the bracket. It was the second time in as many days that Gushue defeated Koe following a 7-3 decision during Friday’s B-qualifiers.
The 12-time Grand Slam men’s champion Gushue will play Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin, who knocked out Team Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., 6-4.
Edin is undefeated in the tournament at 4-0 despite playing without lead Christoffer Sundgren, who is out with a lower-body injury.
The women’s semifinals see Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli and Team Tracy Fleury from East St. Paul in a Manitoba derby and Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan facing Team Anna Hasselborg of Sweden.
Watch the men’s and women’s semifinals live starting at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on Sportsnet 360 with online streaming available at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).
NOTES
The Princess Auto Players’ Championship is the third event of the 2021-22 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world with a combined $350,000 prize purse. … Winning teams earn $35,000. … Both finals are set for Sunday.
