News Masters

GUELPH, Ont. — Calgary’s Team Brad Jacobs remained undefeated at the WFG Masters and secured a spot in the playoffs after defeating Saskatoon’s Team Mike McEwen 7-4 during Draw 11 Thursday.

Team Jacobs punched a ticket to the quarterfinals at 3-0 with one more round-robin game to go against Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin on Friday. 

Team McEwen dropped to a 1-2 record and must win its remaining match in preliminary play against world No. 1 Team Bruce Mouat from Scotland. 

“It’s nice to get into the playoffs as quick as you possibly can in this field,” Team Jacobs third Marc Kennedy said. “That was a big game for us. We haven’t played Mike in a long time. They’ve had a great season and we got down too early but hung in there and Brad made some good shots. We knew it was going to be a good battle to the end and it feels good to get to 3-0.”

Although Team McEwen selected Team Jacobs in the draft to determine the pools, Kennedy said there wasn’t any extra motivation considering they were one of the last picks.

“They have a pretty good record against us over the last few years, beating us at the Brier and then beating us at the PointsBet this year,” Kennedy said. “No extra motivation, that is a terrific team that I know we’re going to have to battle at the Brier and you just take any win you can get against those guys.”

The game started in McEwen’s favour with control of the hammer. McEwen made an open draw to score a deuce in the second end, but Jacobs matched right back and capitalized after McEwen’s missed shot to hit for the tying two points. 

The turning point came in the fourth end as Jacobs sat a trio of stones and stole them all as McEwen’s shooter ticked off of the top one and rolled the wrong way to make it 5-2.

McEwen bounced back with a double for a deuce in the fifth and forced Jacobs to draw for a single.

Misfortune struck McEwen in the seventh though as he was looking to score two, but his shooter picked out of his hand, leading to a steal and a three-point advantage for Jacobs.

McEwen still held the hammer for the eighth end, however, it was handshakes after Kennedy, who was nearly perfect shooting 97 per cent in the game, fired a double takeout.

“A nice way to end it,” Kennedy said with a smile. “It felt good. I think we’re kind of getting into our groove mid-season and seeing a lot of good shots and managing rocks well. Brad’s got a good game plan, so it just kind of feels easy right now.

“Of course, you’re always getting a couple of breaks. We got a big break in the fourth end to steal three. That doesn’t happen very often against Mike. You take them when you get them and, like I said, try to get to the playoffs as quick as possible.”

Elsewhere in Draw 11, Edin pulled off a long angle raise takeout to score four points in the eighth end and defeat Mouat 8-5.

Edin and Mouat hold identical 2-1 records.

Team John Epping of Sudbury, Ont., got into the win column with a draw to the button in the extra end for a 6-5 victory over Team Korey Dropkin from the United States.

It’s Epping’s first Grand Slam event of the season and his first with his new team featuring third Jacob Horgan, second Tanner Horgan and lead Ian McMillan.

“It kind of feels like our first win at a Slam with this new team,” said Epping, who has won three Grand Slam titles as a skip. “It’s like we’ve never won a game at a Slam before. We’ve been in every game we’ve played so far here and we had another tight one. It was just nice to make my last shot. The guys swept it perfectly, judged it well for me and it just feels really good.”

Playing in an event close to home is also extra special for the Toronto resident.

“You can hear the extra cheers. We know we have a lot of friends and family here,” he said. “The Slams have always been an amazing event and always a goal for us to play in. To be able to play in front of lots of people and on TV, it’s extra special and I’m glad that we’re here for now.”

Winnipeg’s Team Jordon McDonald earned a first win in the Grand Slam series with a 5-3 victory over Team Marco Hösli of Switzerland.

Epping, Dropkin, McDonald and Hösli are all still in the mix with 1-2 records.

UP NEXT

Round-robin play continues with Draw 12 at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT with broadcast coverage on Sportsnet East, Ontario and Sportsnet+.

Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.ca.

Live streaming of every game is available in free preview via HomeTeam.

NOTES

The WFG Masters is the fourth Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … A new rule is being tested this week where teams will lose the hammer if they blank two consecutive ends. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday evening. The top eight teams in both divisions qualify for the playoffs. … If necessary, one tiebreaker round will be held Saturday morning. … The quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled for Saturday with both finals slated for Sunday.