Bottcher outlasts Koe in Players' Championship final
Koe wrecks on final shot, leading to steal of 4, win for Bottcher; Einarson downs Hasselborg in women's final
Edmonton's Brendan Bottcher captured men's title at the Players' Championship curling event with a 6-1 win over Calgary's Kevin Koe on Sunday.
Bottcher's rink, which includes Darren Moulding, Bradley Thiessen and Karrick Martin, earned a steal of four in the eighth and final end after Koe couldn't navigate through a sea of Bottcher stones in a crowded house.
Koe's rink also included B.J. Neufeld, Colton Flasch and Ben Hebert.
With the win, Bottcher clinched second in the Pinty's Grand Slam of Curling standings. Koe had already cemented first overall by reaching the final.
WATCH | Bottcher defeats Koe in Players' Championship final:
He advanced with a 9-8 win over Switzerland's Peter de Cruz on Saturday night.
Koe fell short of becoming a repeat Players' Championship winner. The tournament is the penultimate stop on the Pinty's Grand Slam of Curling calendar.
Bottcher got off to a good start with a steal of one in the opening end. He executed a double-raise double takeout to put up a pair of guards.
Koe's attempt to get around it on his final shot of the end missed the mark, allowing Bottcher to earn the steal.
In the third, Koe picked up one to make it 1-1 when forced to fire a shot raise double to prevent Bottcher from stealing more.
In the fifth, Bottcher was forced to play a shot to the button to pick up one but it could have been worse. With Koe crowding the house, Bottcher executed a triple takeout to eliminate any chance for Koe to steal.
The sixth and seventh ends were blanked as both teams attempted to position themselves in the best situation going into the eight and final end of regulation.
Einarson downs reigning Olympic champ Hasselborg
Later Sunday, Kerri Einarson defeated Anna Hasselborg 5-4 in an extra end to win the women's title.
The win capped a string of four victories in a row for the rink from Gimli, Man. The team of Einarson, Val Sweeting, Shannon Birchard and Briane Meilleur finished the round-robin portion of the tournament at 2-3, but ended as champions by running the table in their final four draws.
Hasselborg, the reigning Olympic champion, was undefeated in the tournament up until the final.
After a blank first end, Einarson had a nose-hit to lie two rocks. the Swedish skip knocked one of the rocks out which would require a measurement. The result was a steal of a single point for Einarson for a 1-0 lead after two.
WATCH | Einarson defeats Hasselborg in final:
Hasselborg would get on the board in the third end. She squeaked around an Einarson rock and followed the line for a deuce to take a 2-1 lead.
Einarson would pick up a single to tie it 2-2 in the fourth end, but her team had a lie of three wiped out after Hasselborg broke up the possibility.
With Hasselborg looking for the blank end with the hammer, her rink would miss on a hit-and-roll and their rock would stick to inadvertently concede the hammer while recording just a single to take a 3-2 lead.
In the sixth end, Einarson would take advantage by picking up a deuce for a 4-3 lead.
A blank end in the seventh would allow Hasselborg to retain the hammer going into the final end.
In the eighth end, Hasselborg would pick up a single after a measurement that forced the extra end.