Maria Larsson (curler)

Maria Larsson (born 14 June 2000) is a Swedish curler from Stockholm. She currently plays second on Team Isabella Wranå, also known as Team Panthera. With this team, she won a gold medal at the 2017 World Junior Curling Championships and a silver medal at the 2018 World Junior Curling Championships.

Career
Larsson qualified for her first World Junior Curling Championships in 2016, playing second on the Swedish team consisting of Therese Westman, Sarah Pengel, Mikaela Altebro and Johanna Heldin. At the 2016 World Junior Curling Championships, the team finished the round robin with a 5–4 record, qualifying for a tiebreaker. They then lost 10–4 in the tiebreaker to Hungary's Dorottya Palancsa, eliminating them from contention. At her next two appearances in 2017 and 2018, she was the alternate on Team Isabella Wranå. In 2017, the team made it all the way to the final and defeated Scotland's Sophie Jackson to win the gold medal, and lost just two round robin games in the process. The next year the same team went undefeated in the round robin, but ended up losing to Canada's Kaitlyn Jones in the final, settling for silver. At her fourth and final appearance in 2019 as lead for Tova Sundberg, the team placed sixth.

After the 2020–21 season lead of Team Wranå, Fanny Sjöberg, stepped back from competitive curling and Larsson replaced her as the team's new lead. The team had a successful first season together which started with reaching the final of the 2021 Euro Super Series in their first event. They also reached the semifinals of three more events, the 2021 Women's Masters Basel, the Red Deer Curling Classic and the International Bernese Ladies Cup. The team competed in three of the four Grand Slam of Curling events during the season, qualifying for the quarterfinals at both the 2021 National and the 2022 Players' Championship. Nationally, the team won the Swedish Eliteserien in February 2022 and later the Swedish Women's Curling Championship in March 2022. After the season, Jennie Wåhlin stepped back from competitive curling and was replaced by Linda Stenlund. The revised lineup of the team saw Wranå and de Val continue at skip and third while Larsson moved up to second and Stenlund slotted in at lead.

Team Wranå finished third at their second event of the 2022–23 season, the 2022 Oslo Cup, defeating Marianne Rørvik 6–2. In September, the team competed in the European Qualifier best-of-seven series against Team Hasselborg, which they lost 4–1. They then had a quarterfinal finish at the 2022 Women's Masters Basel after a previously unbeaten record. In the first Slam of the season, the 2022 National, they finished pool play with a 2–2 record, but then lost 7–2 in a tiebreaker to the newly formed Kaitlyn Lawes rink. At the 2022 Tour Challenge, they again went 2–2 to qualify for a tiebreaker, which they won 7–4 over Hollie Duncan. Team Wranå then beat the World Champion Silvana Tirinzoni rink in the quarters before losing to Team Rachel Homan in the semifinal, marking the first time the team qualified for a Slam semifinal. They then lost in the final of the Sundbyberg Open to Team Hasselborg. The next Slam was the 2022 Masters, where the team missed the playoffs with a 1–3 record. The team began the New Year at the 2023 Canadian Open, where they qualified through the A side, defeating Team Hasselborg in the A final game. In the playoffs, they defeated Jennifer Jones in the quarterfinals before losing to Kerri Einarson in the semifinals. Team Wranå's next event was the 2023 International Bernese Ladies Cup where they went undefeated until the final where they fell to Team Tirinzoni. The following month, they played in the Swedish Women's Curling Championship, finishing second behind Hasselborg. That same month, the team faced off against Hasselborg again for a chance to play in the 2023 World Women's Curling Championship. The two teams played in a best-of-seven series, with Hasselborg winning in seven games. In their next two events, they finished third at the Sun City Cup and won the Swedish Eliteserien. The team finished off their season at the 2023 Players' Championship. There, they finished 4–1 record in group play, earning a bye to the semifinals. In the playoffs, they defeated Einarson, and then Tirinzoni in the finals to claim the team's first ever Grand Slam title.

After suffering defeats to Team Hasselborg in both of their first two tour events, Team Wranå turned things around at the European qualifier as they won the series 4–2, earning them the right to represent Sweden at the 2023 European Curling Championships. In preparation for the Euros, the team played in the 2023 Players Open where they lost to Hasselborg in the final. They also played in two Slams, the 2023 Tour Challenge and the 2023 National, reaching the quarterfinals of the latter. In November, the team represented Sweden at the Europeans in Aberdeen. There, they finished third through the round robin with a 6–3 record, earning a spot in the playoffs. They then lost both the semifinal and bronze medal game to Italy and Norway respectively, finishing fourth. Back on tour, they reached the semifinals of the 2023 Western Showdown and the quarterfinals of the 2023 Masters and the 2024 International Bernese Ladies Cup. Days before the 2024 Swedish Women's Championship, Team Hasselborg was appointed to represent Sweden at the 2024 World Women's Curling Championship as they had accumulated more points than Team Wranå in their best five events. The team then lost the final of the Swedish Championship to Hasselborg. In February, Team Wranå won their sole event title of the season after an undefeated run at the Sun City Cup. To end the season, the team tried to defend their title at the 2024 Players' Championship. After a 4–1 record through the round robin, they beat Korea's Gim Eun-ji in the semifinal before coming up short to Silvana Tirinzoni in a rematch of the 2023 final.