The Players’ Championship is the fourth and final event in the Grand Slam of Curling series and features curling’s top men’s and women’s teams
The Grand Finale: Curling’s Best Sweep into Toronto for the Players’ Championship April 16th – 21st
TORONTO Starting today, thirty of the world’s best curling teams will compete in the final Grand Slam of Curling event of the season – the Players’ Championship – taking place until April 21 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (formerly Maple Leaf Gardens) in Toronto. Sportsnet’s coverage of the event kicks off on Thursday, April 18 at 1 pm AT/9 a.m. PT on Sportsnet East, Ontario, West and Pacific, while CBC will cover the men’s quarter finals and final (full broadcast details below).
The Players’ Championship will feature 15 men’s and 15 women’s elite teams battling in the high-stakes, competitive bonspiel featuring a combined event purse of $200,000, as well as an additional Grand Slam of Curling bonus of $200,000.
Team Gushue, with PEI natives Brett Gallant (2nd left) and Adam Casey (3rd left) shown in a PEICurling.com photo from last year’s Players’ Championship in Summerside PEI, is one of the men’s teams competing
On the men’s side, teams will vie for the $100,000 purse and a chance to finish in the top three in the overall Grand Slam of Curling bonus points standings, making them eligible to split an additional $100,000 bonus. Currently, Winnipeg’s Team Stoughton, winner of January’s The National, is in the overall lead with Rogers Masters winner Team Koe from Edmonton in second. First place will receive $50,000, second place will receive $30,000, and third place will receive $20,000.
On the women’s side, Rogers Masters winner Rachel Homan looks to sweep the women’s Grand Slam of Curling events this season and claim the $100,000 Grand Slam of Curling bonus, in addition to splitting the $100,000 Players’ Championship event purse. Should there be no sweep by Homan, the top three women’s teams – based on the Grand Slam points system – will split a $25,000 purse. First place will receive $12,500, second place will receive $7,500, and third place will receive $5,000.
Sportsnet’s team of curling experts will be on hand at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto to call the action, with Rob Faulds handling the play-by-play for the men’s draws alongside 1998 Olympic silver medallists and former teammates Mike Harris and Richard Hart. Faulds and Harris will also call the action for the women’s draws alongside 1998 Olympic gold medallist Joan McCusker. Brad Fay rounds out the broadcast team as host.
Owned and operated by Sportsnet, the Grand Slam of Curling is an elite series of men’s and women’s curling events which are part of the World Curling Tour and feature the best teams from across Canada and around the world. The Players’ Championship in Toronto (April 16-21, 2013) is the fourth and final stop of the 2012-13 Grand Slam of Curling season which also included the Rogers Masters, Canadian Open and National. Tickets for the Players’ Championship can be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.ca/Grand-Slam
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Click for full schedule (PDF-all times Eastern)
Broadcast Schedule
· Thursday, April 18
Preliminaries, 1 p.m. AT/9 a.m. PT (Sportsnet East, Ontario, West, and Pacific)
Preliminaries, 4:30 p.m. AT/12:30 p.m. PT (Sportsnet East, Ontario, West, and Pacific)
Preliminaries, 8:30 p.m. AT/4:30 p.m. PT (Sportsnet ONE)
· Friday, April 19
Preliminaries, 1 p.m. AT/9 a.m. PT (Sportsnet East, Ontario, West, and Pacific)
Preliminaries, 4:30 p.m. AT/12:30 p.m. PT (Sportsnet East, Ontario, West, and Pacific)
· Saturday, April 20
Men’s Quarter-finals, 4 pm AT (CBC)
Men’s Semifinals, 8:30 p.m. AT/4:30 p.m. PT (Sportsnet East, Ontario, West, and Pacific)
· Sunday, April 21
Women’s Final, 10:30 a.m. AT/6:30 a.m. PT (Sportsnet East, Ontario, West, and Pacific)
Men’s final 2 pm AT (CBC)
Players Championship Teams Include
Source: http://www.mattamyathleticcentre.ca/events/detail/grand-slam-of-curling-players-championship