 Scotland's Ross Whyte (Photo: Anil Mungal/GSOC) took no mercy to kick off the final event of the 2024-25 season. By: Cameron Sallaj The 2025 AMJ Players' Championship got off to a hot start Tuesday morning at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in downtown Toronto with both men's games seeing heavily lopsided scores. In the feature, Scottish champion Ross Whyte battled USA champ Korey Dropkin in a game which only lasted five ends. Having not been chosen to represent Scotland at the World Men's Championship last week in Moose Jaw, the Scottish quartet of Whyte, Robin Brydone, Duncan McFadzean and Euan Kyle came into the game with a vengeance, opening the scoring with a count of three in the first end. In two, Dropkin had a chance to tie the score with a split, but only managed to count one. From there, the Scotts continued to dominate, taking two more in the third before a blank in four, allowing them to lead 5-1 at the break. Another strong end by Whyte forced Korey Dropkin to draw against six Scottish counters on his final rock in five which he ultimately did not make, with the game ending in a final score of 11-1. Team Whyte have been one of the most consistent teams on tour over the past few seasons. They have won back-to-back Scottish titles and in January captured the 2025 WFG Masters, their first Slam win. Currently ranked number five in the world, the team is looking to finish off the season with another win on Slam ice which might involve taking down countrymates Team Bruce Mouat once again. For Team Dropkin, they are coming off a disappointing performance at the World Championships which saw them miss out on direct Olympic qualification after posting a 4-8 record. With the Olympic Trials looming, they are the number one ranked team in the country and will try to finish the 2024-25 season off on a high before the summer break. The other men's game in the opening draw in Toronto saw a similar story to Whyte/Dropkin with Team John Epping (1-0; Sudbury, ON) downing Team Brad Jacobs (0-1; Edmonton, AB) 8-1. The teams sat tied after three ends before Epping outscored the reigning Canadian champions and world bronze medalists 7-0 in the final three ends. The Jacobs rink is playing with two spares this week in Tyler Tardi and Connor Njegovan on the front-end. In women's action, Team Rachel Homan (1-0; Ottawa, ON) bounced back after a disappointing loss in the Rio Mare Battle of the Sexes, taking two in the eighth to bounce Team Xenia Schwaller (0-1; Zurich, SUI) 7-5. Team Homan, who are now two-time defending world champions, are now 70-6 on the season. Finally, Team Ha Seung-youn (1-0; Chuncheon, KOR) never trailed en route to a 7-5 victory over Team Satsuki Fujisawa (0-1; Kitami, JPN). The next draw from the 2025 AMJ Players' Championship begins at 3 pm ET with Team Bruce Mouat and Team Marc Muskatewitz facing off in the featured game. |
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