(Jonathan Brazeau)
Rachel Homan has 100,000 reasons to want to win the Players’ Championship.
Photo: Rachel Homan
The Ottawa skip has a shot at a $100,000 bonus after capturing the Masters title in November and can earn the six-figure extra prize if her team goes 2-for-2 this season by claiming the Players’ Championship in Summerside, P.E.I.
Don’t miss the Players’ Championship, running April 15-20 in Summerside, P.E.I. Purchase tickets online here.
It’s not going to be easy, however, with 11 other top teams in the world gunning for the title. Homan fell short of completing the sweep a year ago, falling to Jennifer Jones in the Players’ quarterfinals.
All three medal-winning teams from Sochi will be competing in the women’s division and the end-of-season tournament closes a four-year Olympic cycle that could see several teams shake up their rosters for the fall as they begin the road to the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
We covered the men’s division on Monday, now here’s a look at the 12 teams competing for the women’s title at the Players’ Championship:
TEAM HASTINGS
Lineup: Julie Hastings (skip), Cheryl McPherson (third), Stacey Smith (second) and Katrina Collins (lead)
Hometown: Thornhill, Ontario
WCT Order of Merit rank: 39th
2013 Masters: Did not participate
Hastings made her Grand Slam debut at the Players’ Championship in 2010. The team has won two bonspiels this season: the KW Fall Classic in September and the Mount Lawn Gord Carroll Classic in November.
TEAM HOMAN
Lineup: Rachel Homan (skip), Emma Miskew (third), Alison Kreviazuk (second) and Lisa Weagle (lead)
Hometown: Ottawa, Ontario
WCT Order of Merit rank: 2nd
2013 Masters: Champions
As winners of the Masters in November, Team Homan has a chance to take the $100,000 bonus should they also capture the Players’ Championship and sweep the two Grand Slam of Curling events this season. This will also be the final tournament for their current lineup as Kreviazuk is moving to Sweden. Homan successfully defended her Scotties title in February and earned silver at the women’s world curling championship in March.
TEAM JAGGI
Lineup: Michèle Jäggi (skip), Marisa Winkelhausen (third), Stéphanie Jäggi (second) and Melanie Barbezät (lead)
Hometown: Bern, Switzerland
WCT Order of Merit rank: 13th
2013 Masters: Did not participate
This is the second consecutive Players’ Championship appearance for the team. Jaggi scored a deuce in the final end to lift her squad to a 5-4 victory over Team Muirhead in their opening match of last year’s tournament in Toronto. The team earned a 2-2 record but lost to Jennifer Jones in a tiebreaker.
TEAM JONES
Lineup: Jennifer Jones (skip), Kaitlyn Lawes (third), Jill Officer (second) and Dawn McEwen (lead)
Hometown: Winnipeg, Manitoba
WCT Order of Merit rank: 1st
2013 Masters: Lost to Muirhead in semifinals
Team Jones is riding off of the momentum from the Sochi Games where they became the first women’s curling team to post an undefeated record and win the Olympic gold medal. Jones has had a lot of success at this particular tournament: in the eight years the Players’ has been held, Jones has won the event four times.
TEAM LAWTON
Lineup: Stefanie Lawton (skip), Sherry Anderson (third), Sherri Singler (second) and Marliese Kasner (lead)
Hometown: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
WCT Order of Merit rank: 4th
2013 Masters: Lost to Jones in quarterfinals
Lawton won the Players’ Championship two years ago when Summerside, P.E.I., last hosted the event. Her team finished the Masters round-robin play with a 3-1 record including a big 8-3 win in seven ends over Team Muirhead. Lawton faced Jones in the quarterfinals but was edged out in an extra end.
TEAM MIDDAUGH
Lineup: Sherry Middaugh (skip), Jo-Ann Rizzo (third), Lee Merklinger (second) and Leigh Armstrong (lead)
Hometown: Coldwater, Ontario
WCT Order of Merit rank: 12th
2013 Masters: Missed playoffs
Middaugh finished the Masters with a 2-2 record but the team bounced back from that performance and came in second place at the Canadian Olympic trials, including a 10-4 win over Team Homan in the semifinal match.
TEAM MUIRHEAD
Lineup: Eve Muirhead (skip), Anna Sloan (third), Vicki Adams (second) and Claire Hamilton (lead)
Hometown: Stirling, Scotland
WCT Order of Merit rank: 3rd
2013 Masters: Finalist (lost to Homan)
Muirhead won the Players’ Championship a year ago in Toronto, defeating Team Sigfridsson in the final to claim their first Grand Slam of Curling title. Muirhead won the Autumn Gold Curling Classic in October and earned a bronze medal at the Sochi Olympics.
TEAM NEDOHIN
Lineup: Heather Nedohin (skip), Beth Iskiw (third), Jessica Mair (second) and Laine Peters (lead)
Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta
WCT Order of Merit rank: 9th
2013 Masters: Lost to Homan in quarterfinals
Nedohin finished the Masters round-robin with a 3-1 record. They scored an impressive 8-2 rout over Team Homan in just five ends of play but fell 6-3 in the rematch during the quarterfinals.
TEAM SIGFRIDSSON
Lineup: Maria Prytz (fourth), Christina Bertrup (third), Maria Wennerström (second) and Margaretha Sigfridsson (skip)
Hometown: Harnosand, Sweden
WCT Order of Merit rank: 5th
2013 Masters: Lost to Muirhead in quarterfinals
The Sochi Olympic silver medallists reached the finals at last year’s Players’ Championship but fell to Team Muirhead. Sigfridsson was the only team to post an undefeated 4-0 record in round-robin play at the Masters and faced Muirhead again in the quarterfinals. Sigfridsson trailed 4-2 and rallied to score a single in the seventh and a steal of one in the eighth to tie it but Muirhead grabbed the game-winning point in the extra end to advance.
TEAM SWEETING
Lineup: Valerie Sweeting (skip), Joanne Courtney (third), Dana Ferguson (second) and Rachelle Pidherny (lead)
Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta
WCT Order of Merit rank: 11th
2013 Masters: Did not participate
Sweeting was the runner-up at this year’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts falling to Team Homan in the final. This will be the final tournament for this group as Courtney will head east and join Homan’s squad next season.
TEAM TIRINZONI
Lineup: Silvana Tirinzoni (skip), Manuela Siegrist (third), Esther Neuenschwander (second) and Marlene Albrecht (lead)
Hometown: Aarau, Switzerland
WCT Order of Merit rank: 10th
2013 Masters: Did not participate
Tirinzoni is coming off of winning the Pomeroy Inn & Suites Prairie Showdown title, defeating Team Muirhead in the final last month. They finished last year’s Players’ Championship with a 2-2 record but fell to Renee Sonnenberg in the tiebreaker.
TEAM WEBSTER
Lineup: Crystal Webster (skip), Cathy Overton-Clapham (third), Geri-Lynn Ramsay (second) and Samantha Preston (lead)
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta. [Geri-Lynn is a Summerside P.E.I. native.]
WCT Order of Merit rank: 20th
2013 Masters: Did not participate
Webster was a finalist at the Players’ Championship in 2010 while Overton-Clapham won two Players’ titles with Team Jones (2007 and 2009) and skipped her own team to the final in 2012. Team Webster won the Shoot-Out @ the Saville Centre in September.