TORONTO — Scotland’s Bruce Mouat may have defeated Canada’s Rachel Homan on Monday night in the first Rio Mare Battle of the Sexes presented by The Curling Group, but the real winners were the charities they were playing for.

A portion of ticket sales from the sold-out event will also go to both charities.

Charlie is a dear friend of Team Mouat who is fighting Stage 4 nodular malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer. Funds will support research and development, leading to more trials and raising awareness of the rare disease.

“It was just a lot of fun,” Mouat said. “We were really happy to be a part of it. It’s just something that’s a new initiative that is quite exciting for our sport. It created a lot of buzz and a lot of people obviously attended. It means a lot that we got to be a part of it.”

The Sandra Schmirler Foundation aims to “help babies born too soon, too small, too sick, or too far,” a cause that Homan said is close to home for her team that includes third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes.

“We have a lot of young children on the team and definitely had to use the NICU and those services, so we’re happy to raise money for that charity,” said Homan, who captured her third world title last month. “It means a lot.”

Mouat, third Grant Hardie, second Bobby Lammie and lead Hammy McMillan Jr. made the trek straight from Moose Jaw, Sask., after defeating Switzerland 5-4 Sunday afternoon to capture their second gold medal in three years at the BKT World Men’s Curling Championship.

“We were absolutely knackered,” Mouat said. “I think you could see that. Hammy, at one point, was just sitting on the ground, just trying to maintain as much energy as possible. We’re tired, we’re going to try and have a good rest before we start the Players’ (Championship) tomorrow.”

An electric capacity crowd was on hand at the Mattamy Athletic Centre for the highly anticipated showdown between the No. 1 ranked teams in the world. The fans in the stands cheered, jeered and sang along, particularly Team Mouat’s supporters section on the players’ bench, chanting, “We like to Mouat, Mouat.”

“That’s what we had over the weekend, so it was nice to have it on a Monday as well,” Mouat said. “It was a lot of fun to play in front of. There was a lot of fan banter going on during the game. A lot of people heckling us and booing us and stuff, but that’s fun. We enjoyed it.”

The game featured a few twists, including celebrity coaches with curling commentator John Cullen, plus two-time NBA champion and noted curling enthusiast Matt Bonner on the bench for Team Mouat. Team Wranå, sporting Homan Empire sweatshirts, assisted the Ottawa-based club.

Homan could also call in the “sweep swap” once per half, where Team Mouat’s brushes were switched out for old-school Brownie brooms.

The teams were hit with another swerve before the game even started as they got to select which player on the opposing team had to throw the draw to the button to determine the hammer. Team Mouat picked Miskew, whose shot went right through the rings. Team Homan selected Lammie and though it looked like his rock was going to sail past the house as well, it stopped just in time at the back of the 12-foot circle.

Teams played to win ends under the format and had to count two or more rocks with the hammer or steal at least one to win a skin. Ends one through six were worth $1,000 each, while ends seven and eight were worth $3,000 each.

Mouat took the first skin in the opening end. With shot rock secure in the opening end, Mouat drew and redirected off another stone to count two.

After Homan made a crazy pinball shot that almost gave up a steal but led to a carryover, Mouat cashed in during the third end with a tap to sit two.

Mouat was money again, stealing the fourth end as Homan missed the mark on an angle raise.

Homan, who has won a record 17 Grand Slam of Curling women’s titles, made another unreal shot in the fifth for a carryover and got on the board during the sixth with a steal. Mouat attempted a double takeout and removed the top rock but missed Homan’s other stone at the back of the house.

The nine-time Grand Slam men’s champion Mouat bounced back in the seventh, already sitting shot rock and drawing for a second stone to score the decisive skin.

Homan came up short on a draw for two in the eighth end, leading to a draw-to-the-button shootout. After Homan grabbed a piece of the four-foot circle, Mouat managed to outcount it to bank the final $3,000.

“It was a lot of fun out there to just play in a fun game for once,” Homan said. “It was nice to be able to raise money for charity.”

Would Homan consider playing in it again?

“Yeah, absolutely,” she said. “It was lots of fun, something different and not-so serious.”

The match served as a nice warmup to the week as the AMJ Players’ Championship, the fifth and final Grand Slam of Curling event of the season, gets underway Tuesday at the historic venue formerly known as Maple Leaf Gardens.