 Germany's Team Marc Muskatewitz (Photo: Anil Mungal/GSOC) are in the hunt for another playoff appearance on Slam ice. By: Cameron Sallaj Fresh off qualifying for the 2026 Winter Olympics at last weeks World Championship, Marc Muskatewitz and his German squad had a slow start to the 2025 AMJ Players' Championship, dropping their first two games to Bruce Mouat and Yannick Schwaller. Since then, however, the team have turned things around, picking up two wins Thursday to remain in the playoff hunt. In the morning draw, the German squad of Muskatewitz, Benny Kapp, Felix Messenzehl, Johannes Scheuerl and Mario Trevisiol came from behind to defeat Team Ross Whyte (2-2; Stirling, SCO) in a close 5-4 battle. Down one in the second half, the young German side scored two in the fifth and held on to clinch their first win. In the afternoon, the team looked to make it two in a row against Team Marco Hoesli of Switzerland. It appeared that would in fact be the case early in the contest with Muskatewitz hitting for three in the first end. From there, Hoesli kept within striking distance, but Muskatewitz continued to hold onto the lead the entire way through. After trading singles in two and three, the Swiss side got two in the fourth before stealing in five to tie the score. A strong sixth end by the Germans allowed them tack two on the board, though this was also matched by Hoesli who scored back-to-back singles in seven and eight. With hammer in the extra end, Muskatewitz ensured the win with an open hit for a single, taking the game 7-6 to improve his teams record to 2-2. Team Muskatewitz have had one of the biggest rises of the 2024-25 season with their peak coming in November when they dethroned Team Mouat as European champions. Since then, they have qualified for two Slam playoffs and represented German at the World Championships where they surprisingly missed the playoffs with a 5-7 record. Despite this, it was enough to qualify their country for the 2026 Winter Olympics next year where they will wear the German colors. With one game left to play, the young squad from Fuessen will look to keep their momentum going against Team Korey Dropkin (0-3; Duluth, MN) at 3:30 pm ET Friday. A win will most likely guarantee a playoff berth while a loss will see them exit the competition early. In other Draw 10 scores, Team Ross Whyte bounced back with a strong 6-2 win over Scottish rivals Team Bruce Mouat (3-1; Stirling, SCO). Team Matt Dunstone (2-1; Winnipeg, MB) downed Team Brad Jacobs (2-2; Edmonton, AB) 6-1 in a rematch of the Brier final while Team Silvana Tirinzoni (3-0; Aarau, SUI) continued to roll with a 5-3 win over Team Satsuki Fujisawa (1-3; Kitami, JPN). Streaming of every game from the 2025 AMJ Players' Championship is available on HomeTeamLive. Red play buttons can be found on CurlingZone's scoreboard for each game. |
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Team Joel Retornaz (Photo: Anil Mungal) had the crowd buzzing in Cortina after knocking off Sweden's Niklas Edin.
