TORONTO — Eve Muirhead clinched a spot in the Players’ Championship final after bouncing back to beat Stefanie Lawton 6-5 in an extra end Saturday night.
The reigning world champion from Scotland will now face Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson in a rematch of the gold-medal game in the first-ever all-European Grand Slam of Curling final.
Watch the Players’ Championship women’s final Sunday at 9 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. PT on Sportsnet East, Ontario, West and Pacific.
After Muirhead scored a deuce in the third to take a 2-1 lead, Lawton took control with a single in four to tie in a stole three in the sixth to pull ahead. Muirhead scored a single in the seventh then stole two in the eighth to force overtime. Lawton held the hammer in the extra end but couldn’t nudge her rock past Muirhead’s stones and gave up another steal.
The Saskatoon native Lawton won her first career Grand Slam title last year at the Players’ Championship as the lowest-ranked seed, but wasn’t looking like the underdog this time around entering the semifinal with an undefeated 5-0 record.
Meanwhile, Sigfridsson counted three-enders in the third and fifth ends and doubled up on Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones 8-4 in the other semifinal match.
Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ont., will play Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen in the men’s final Sunday afternoon. Howard defeated Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., 6-4 while McEwen outmatched city rival Jeff Stoughton 5-2 to reach the championship game. The loss to Jacobs meant Toronto’s John Epping earned the last direct spot to the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in December. Jacobs can still qualify, but will have to take the long road via the pre-trials.
