Bruce Mouat retains Players' Championship title as Anna Hasselborg makes history
Team Mouat avenged their Beijing 2022 final defeat to Niklas Edin's Swedish rink, as Hasselborg became the first woman to complete a full set of Grand Slam of Curling majors.
Curling
Bruce Mouat and his Olympic curling silver medallists denied Sweden a double triumph at the Players' Championship in Toronto on Sunday (17 April).
Scottish fans turned out in numbers to support Mouat and co at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, and they beat Niklas Edin's rink 8-3 to avenge their Beijing 2022 gold medal match defeat and retain the title they won behind closed doors 12 months ago.
Edin reached the final despite having just two men alongside him for most of the week with lead Christoffer Sundgren suffering a recurrence of a groin injury.
That saw Rasmus Wrana and Oskar Eriksson throw down three stones apiece in each end with Edin having the last two as usual.
But the Scots - lead Hammy McMillan Jr, second Bobby Lammie, third Grant Hardie and Mouat - made a superb start to the rematch, scoring three in the first end and stealing two in the second to go into a 5-0 lead they never looked like relinquishing.
Mouat's fifth career Grand Slam of Curling title came in the team's fifth consecutive final. It also secured the overall season Grand Slam title.
Afterwards he gave thanks to the travelling support, saying, "We can’t thank them enough for travelling out and spending some time with us. Just to have the fans back in the stands and you hear cheering for good shots, so it’s really great to have that atmosphere back at the Slams.
"You’ve got your family and friends watching right behind your sheet, so you’re always hoping to do well for them, make them proud and I think we’ve done a really good job this week.
"I know the boys and myself train so hard to get to this level and prove we’re right up at the top of the standings. With two titles out of the three this year, it really is a very special achievement." - Bruce Mouat
History for Hasselborg after comeback win
Earlier on Sunday, Anna Hasselborg became the first woman to complete a career Grand Slam with a narrow 6-5 win over two-time reigning champion Kerri Einarson.
In the quarter-finals, Hasselborg defeated Eve Muirhead 7-5 in a repeat of the Beijing semi-final which the Scottish rink won before taking gold.
The PyeongChang 2018 gold medallists produced a fine late comeback to beat Rachel Homan's foursome in the semi-finals, and rallied to beat another Canadian rink in the final after giving up a triple in the opening end.
Not even a bout of food poisoning, which affected Hasselborg and third Sara McManus, could stop the Swedes despite Hasselborg unsure whether she would be able to play just 40 minutes before the start.
Trailing 4-1 after three ends, Team Hasselborg scored a double in the fourth and then stole one in the fifth to level the scores.
Einarson's single in the sixth to make it 5-4, but Hasselborg blanked the seventh to have the hammer in the eighth and final end before taking victory with a nerveless double.
Hasselborg's rink have now won all four majors and a total of seven Grand Slam of Curling titles, with the skip grateful for the support of husband Mathias and young daughter Mira in Toronto.
She said, "Coming from first the Olympics and then Worlds, it’s had so much of a relaxed feeling. I mean, we really, really wanted to win but everything around has given us more energy, a freer feeling, not closed off in a bubble and be able to bring your family. It’s huge and I think we all wanted to win for them.
"I knew the strength of this team and I always knew way back when we put this team together. We said this morning we were on the revenge train. … It feels really, really good and it’s very cool to capture all the majors."
Like Mouat, Hasselborg clinched the series title with one round to spare although both will be hoping to end the season in style in the final major of 2021-22 season - the Champions Cup in Olds, Alberta - from 3-8 May.