Team Lawes has strong debut, falls to Team Hasselborg in Oslo Cup final
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It was double gold for Sweden at the Oslo Cup this weekend in Norway as Niklas Edin and Anna Hasselborg were both victorious in the early season bonspiel.
Hasselborg, third Sara McManus, second Agnes Knochenhauer and lead Sofia Mabergs edged Canada's Team Kaitlyn Lawes in the women's final, 5-3.
It was a promising result for Team Lawes, who were playing in just their first event as a new foursome.
Lawes, who is skipping for the first time since junior after a long, successful run with Jennifer Jones, alongside third Selena Njegovan, second Jocelyn Peterman and lead Kristin MacCuish went a perfect 5-0 in round robin play before topping Norway's Team Marianne Rørvik in the semifinal.
Team Lawes will be in Fredericton, N.B., later this month for the PointsBet Invitational.
On the men's side, Edin and the world champions from Sweden went a perfect 7-0 to win their first bonspiel of the season.
Team Edin, who have won the last three World Men's Curling Championships, squared off against Norway's Team Steffen Walstad in the final and put up a three-spot in the seventh end for the 5-2 win.
The 37-year-old Edin, a six-time world champion, is bringing back the same lineup this season with Oskar Eriksson at third, Rasmus Wrana at second and Christoffer Sundgren at lead.
In Switzerland, Italy's Team Joel Retornaz continued their hot start by winning the Adelboden International for their second title already this season.
Retornaz, third Amos Mosaner, second Sebastiano Arman and lead Mattia Giovanella went 6-0 over the four-day bonspiel, capping it off with an 8-6 extra end win over Team Andrin Schnider of Switzerland.
Team Retornaz, who claimed Italy's first medal at the men's worlds last season, also won the Euro Super Series in Stirling, Scotland last week. Retornaz defeated American Korey Dropkin in both the Euro Super Series final as well as the bronze-medal game at last year's men's worlds in Las Vegas.