STEINBACH, Man. — Friday is moving day at the Crown Royal Players' Championship as we're down to the final draws for pool play.
Only six teams in each division will advance to the playoffs in the prestigious Grand Slam of Curling event.
Stream live on watch.rockchannel.com. Broadcast coverage in Canada on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ begins with Draw 9 at 1 p.m. ET / Noon CT.
Keep it here all day for the latest results.
QUICK LINKS: DRAW SCHEDULE & RESULTS | STANDINGS | BROADCAST INFO
SCHWALLER SCORES BYE TO SEMIS
The two most recent men's teams to step into the winner's circle at the Grand Slam of Curling faced off in Draw 14 as Switzerland's Team Yannick Schwaller took on Scotland's Team Bruce Mouat.
Mouat captured back-to-back titles in the fall at the CO-OP Tour Challenge and KIOTI GSOC Tahoe, while Schwaller earned the first Grand Slam championship of his career last month at the HearingLife Canadian Open.
The battle between the top two teams in the rankings was also a rematch of last year's World Men's Curling Championship and Players' Championship finals. Both clubs will also clash next month at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
Schwaller had already clinched a playoff berth and just needed one point to secure a bye to the semifinals. Two was fine as well as Schwaller defeated Mouat 6-5 in a shootout.
"Fantastic," said Benoît Schwarz-van Berkel, who throws fourth stones for Schwaller. "It's half a win and with those rules, we all know it's a little bit different game for sure, but we come to play well. I think we did so. We played solid. We're happy building up for February and hopefully, if we can have a few more wins here, we'll take it as well for sure."
Schwaller played a bit of gamesmanship, allowing Mouat to score a deuce in the seventh end and take a one-point lead, but flipped the hammer coming home. Schwarz-van Berkel had a couple "practice draws" in the eighth end, leading to the equalizing point, in preparation for the shootout.
Mouat went first, drawing short into the top of the eight-foot circle, and Schwarz-van Berkel placed his shooter right on the lid.
"I told the team, I think it's the first time in my life I threw three or four draws in a row in a game. It's crazy," Schwarz-van Berkel said with a laugh. "I think the strategy, the thinking behind it, is a bit confusing, but I think it's exciting for the fans, I guess.
"You have to think a lot. I guess you can see that the teams are thinking quite a bit in the seventh and eighth, so that's exciting."
Schwarz-van Berkel said this have been "so far, so good" thsi week, coming out of the Christmas break and maintaining the momentum from the HearingLife Canadian Open.
"I think we've played good curling. There's no question about that, so we're happy about it," Schwarz-van Berkel said. "The good part is that we also know we can improve many things, so we're very happy."
WHO'S IN, WHO'S OUT
The playoff picture resembled an abstract painting, as all six spots on the women's side were up for grabs to start the day and three spots on the men's side.
Here's how things unfolded.
Men's Division
• Team Kyle Waddell (3-2-0-0, 13 points): The undefeated Scottish squad secured a bye to the semifinals with a 7-6 shootout win in Draw 12 against Whyte.
• Team Yannick Schwaller (3-1-1-0, 12 points): Schwaller also clinched a bye to the semis with a 6-5 shootout win over Mouat in Draw 14.
• Team Xu Xiaoming (3-1-0-1, 11 points): Xu qualified for the playoffs for the first time in a Grand Slam after defeating Edin 8-7 in Draw 12.
Guaranteed at least a tiebreaker: Team Joël Retornaz (2-1-1-1, nine points) and Team Bruce Mouat (2-1-1-1, nine points),
Also in the mix for the final three spots: Team Ross Whyte (2-0-2-0, eight points), Team Matt Dunstone (1-2-0-1, seven points) and Team John Shuster (2-0-0-2, six points).
Eliminated: Team Brad Jacobs, Team Daniel Casper, Team Mike McEwen and Team Niklas Edin.
Women's Division
• Team Silvana Tirinzoni (3-1-0-0, 11 points): Secured a spot with a 7-3 win over Yoshimura in Draw 13 and earned a bye to the semis with Gim's 6-4 loss to Tabata in Draw 14.
• Team Eun-ji Gim (3-0-0-2, nine points): Qualified by a process of elimination after Draw 13, as not enough teams can reach nine points to drop Gim into a shootout.
• Team Tabitha Peterson (2-1-1-0, nine points): Also booked a playoff spot after the results from Draw 13.
Guaranteed something: Team Isabella Wranå (2-1-0-2, eight points) and Team Satsuki Fujisawa (2-1-0-2, eight points).
In the mix for the final three spots: Team Rachel Homan (2-0-0-2, six points), Team Kerri Einarson (2-0-0-2, six points), Team Anna Hasselborg (1-1-1-2, six points)
Eliminated: Team Ikue Kitazawa, Team Sayaka Yoshimura, Team Xenia Schwaller and Team Momoha Tabata
FRIDAY'S SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Draw 12: 9:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. CT
• Xu 8, Edin 7: Watch Replay (Cantonese commentary) | Linescore
• Waddell 7, Whyte 6 (shootout): Watch Replay | Linescore
• Einarson 6, Kitazawa 3: Watch Replay | Linescore
• Fujisawa 5, Peterson 4 (shootout): Watch Replay | Linescore
Draw 13: 1 p.m. ET / Noon CT
• Tirinzoni 7, Yoshimura 4: Watch Replay | Linescore
• Homan 9, Hasselborg 5: Watch Replay | Linescore
• Shuster 7, Casper 3: Watch Replay | Linescore
• Dunstone 9, Retornaz 6: Watch Replay | Linescore
Draw 14: 5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT
• Tabata 6, Gim 4: Watch Replay | Linescore
• Wranå 8, X. Schwaller 4: Watch Replay | Linescore
• Y. Schwaller 6, Mouat 5 (shootout): Watch Replay | Linescore
• Jacobs 7, McEwen 6: Watch Replay | Linescore
Draw 15: 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT
• Dunstone vs. Whyte: Watch Live | Linescore
• Shuster vs. Edin: Watch Live | Linescore
• Homan vs. Peterson: Watch Live | Linescore
• Tirinzoni vs. Einarson: Watch Live | Linescore
ABOUT THE EVENT
The Crown Royal Players' Championship is the fifth and final Grand Slam of Curling event of the season, featuring 12 of the top men's teams and 12 of the top women's teams from around the world.
Both divisions are split into two pools of six for round-robin play. The top six teams overall advance to the playoffs, with the best two receiving byes to the semifinals. If necessary, one tiebreaker round will be played on Saturday.
If a game is tied after eight ends during the round-robin stage, a draw-to-the-button shootout will determine the winner. Teams receive three points for a regulation win, two points for a shootout win and one point for a shootout loss.
Extra ends will be played instead of shootouts during the tiebreakers and playoffs. The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, with both finals on tap Sunday.
