Bottcher ends Jacobs’ run in Champions Cup quarterfinals
SASKATOON — It’s the end of an era for Team Brad Jacobs after they were eliminated in the Humpty’s Champions Cup men’s quarterfinals Saturday at Merlis Belsher Place.
Edmonton’s Team Brendan Bottcher shaded the Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., crew 4-1 in the season finale Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event capping a seven-year run for Team Jacobs with third Ryan Fry moving on to join Team John Epping next season.
Team Jacobs won four Grand Slams, one Brier, a world championship silver medal and an Olympic gold medal during their time with Fry on board.
“We came together, we pretty much accomplished everything we wanted to,” Fry said. “We made an impact on the sport as a team and I couldn’t be more happy to have spent the last seven years together.”
“Any time you get to challenge yourself and have new experiences, it’s going to be something that I’m going to look forward to,” he added. “You get to grow as a player and as a man with the new guys. That’s the main thing, that’s the biggest reason for the change is just not becoming stagnant and becoming repetitive and what you do in life. It’s just going to be a new set of challenges and I’m looking forward to it.”
Twelve-time Grand Slam champion Marc Kennedy will return to competitive curling follow a one-year hiatus to join Jacobs.
Bottcher, who has won the past two Grand Slam events, advances to the evening semifinals against Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat, who brushed aside Team John Shuster of the United States 8-4. Super spare John Morris was filling in at skip this week for Shuster, who was away at the world mixed doubles championship and won the bronze medal with Cory Christensen.
The other side of the semifinal bracket sees Calgary’s Team Kevin Koe collide with Team Niklas Edin of Sweden as worlds collide once again in a rematch of last month’s gold-medal game.
Koe was able to turn the tables from Friday night’s round-robin finale to oust defending champions Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., 6-3.
Back-to-back world champion Edin clipped Toronto’s Team John Epping 9-7 in an extra end.
The women’s semifinals see Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan face Team Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland and Team Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., against Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg, who have Scotland’s Eve Muirhead subbing at skip.
The semifinals begin at 8 p.m. CST (10 p.m. ET) with broadcast coverage on Sportsnet 360 and online via Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).
Notes: The Humpty’s Champions Cup is the seventh and final Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event of the season. Teams had to win a top tour event in order to qualify for the event. … The total purse is $250,000, split evenly between the men’s and women’s divisions, with the winners earning $40,000. … A new rule is being tested at the event where teams cannot perform tick shots on rocks sitting on the centre line during the eighth and extra ends.
