Hasselborg makes GSOC history with Players’ Championship women’s title win

TORONTO — It’ll be remembered as the “Michael Jordan flu video game” of curling but extra importantly it’ll be remembered as Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling record.

Sweden’s Staff Anna Hasselborg scored two for the gain in the eighth end to edge Workforce Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Male., 6-5 Sunday and seize the Princess Car Players’ Championship to turn out to be the 1st women’s team to total a profession Grand Slam.

Neither the skip nor third Sara McManus was emotion 100 for every cent in the women’s remaining at the Mattamy Athletic Centre as they both equally were hit with bout of foods poisoning. Continue to, Hasselborg shot a respectable 81 for every cent with McManus just 1 issue guiding firing at an 80 per cent clip.

“We’ve unquestionably been below the weather conditions,” Hasselborg reported. “I was not certain that I was likely to enjoy just 40 minutes before this sport. Which is pretty insane now that we’re standing here now as the Players’ Championship champs.”

It truly is the seventh Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling women’s title in full for Hasselborg, McManus, next Agnes Knochenhauer and guide Sofia Mabergs, as the Princess Automobile Players’ Championship was the previous of the four majors lacking from their amazing resumes.

The Swedish squad cashed in $35,000 for the championship victory plus a $50,000 reward for finishing to start with overall in the Pinty’s Cup standings.

“It’s a little something really hard to explain,” mentioned Hasselborg, who also took the Pinty’s Cup throughout the 2019-20 period. “I understood the toughness of this staff and I generally understood way again when we put this staff alongside one another. We’ve finished so substantially (all through) this cycle that we’ve been with each other and the years before that, it just shows each individual match at this tournament has not been straightforward. We commenced to fight, missing a pair of massive finishes but it just reveals the energy of this team, how challenging we perform alongside one another and how a great deal will electricity we have in this group. I’m just very pleased.”

Hasselborg extra: “We reported this morning we have been on the revenge coach. … It feels definitely, truly very good and it is really amazing to capture all the majors.”

It was “fika time” for Team Hasselborg as they had to grind it out all week like a great Swedish espresso beating a -2 start to slip into the C Event of the triple knockout preliminary spherical and received 5 consecutive online games with elimination on the line to get to the final. That involves a beautiful 8-7 victory over Rachel Homan’s Ottawa crew in Saturday’s semifinals stealing two factors in the eighth and the winning point in an added stop.

The closing fittingly observed Staff Hasselborg fight again as they were being down by three immediately after the first conclusion and singles again and forth in the next and third re-founded the hole with Einarson ahead 4-1.

Hasselborg chipped absent at the deficit with a nose hit for a deuce in the fourth close and a steal in the fifth tied it up as Einarson rubbed and rolled off the counter on the button just a tad way too significantly to concede a place.

Einarson created a double bump to get a solitary in the sixth to retake the lead, but she hit and rolled out on her final in the seventh to apparent the household and enable Hasselborg to blank and keep the all-essential hammer for the decisive ultimate body.

While Einarson produced a fantastic runback double takeout on her very last, that still left Hasselborg a golden chance to pull off a thin double of her very own and depend the championship-successful deuce.

“I assume even the finishes that we have given up a huge finish, we imagine that we threw them rather excellent, it is just millimetres in this article and there,” Hasselborg mentioned. “We’re just having absent just about anything we can master from that.”

Hasselborg also felt a improve owning her partner Mathias and youthful daughter Mira cheering her on.

“Coming from to start with the Olympics and then worlds, it is experienced so substantially of a calm experience,” Hasselborg mentioned. “I signify, we truly, truly required to win but all the things about has provided us a lot more electricity, a freer experience, not shut off in a bubble and be able to provide your spouse and children. It is large and I assume we all desired to get for them.”

The group of Einarson, third Val Sweeting, next Shannon Birchard and lead Briane Meilleur were being eyeing historical past as nicely getting into the last as the double defending champions and wanting to grow to be the first team — male or woman — to gain the event a few consecutive periods.

Einarson topped Hasselborg in the 2019 final, also at the historic location formerly recognised as Maple Leaf Gardens, and productively defended the trophy very last yr with a victory around Homan in the remaining getting spot in the Calgary bubble at WinSport Arena. The Players’ Championship was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

UP Next

The KIOTI Tractor Champions Cup wraps up the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season, May 3-8, at the Olds Sportsplex in Olds, Alta.