Homan drops opener at Players’ Championship a day after winning 11th Grand Slam title

CALGARY — Scotland’s Bruce Mouat got the better of Brendan Bottcher for the second time in two days.

Mouat toppled Bottcher 9-6 on Tuesday in round-robin action at the Princess Auto Players’ Championship — one day after beating the Edmonton-based rink in the final of the Humpty’s Champion Cup.

Bottcher scored three in the second end on Tuesday for an early 3-0 lead, but Mouat chipped away and then sealed the victory with a five spot in the eighth end.

Meanwhile, a day after winning a record 11th Grand Slam of Curling title, Ontario’s Rachel Homan fell to Russia’s Alina Kovaleva in the opening draw of the Princess Auto Players’ Championship.

Kovaleva’s team broke open a 3-3 tie with three points in the fifth end.

Homan’s Ottawa-based team was coming off a 6-3 win over Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni on Monday night in the final of the Humpty’s Champions Cup.

Kerri Einarson — the Canadian national champion from Gimli, Man. — Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones, Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg, South Korea’s Minji Kim and Tirinzoni were Day 1 winner on the women’s side.

World champion Niklas Edin of Sweden, Calgary’s Kevin Koe, Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs, Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador and Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller started 1-0 in men’s play.

Round-robin play continues on Wednesday.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2021.

The Canadian Press