News Champions Cup

SASKATOON — Team Brad Jacobs came out with a strong statement win to secure at least another game in the Humpty’s Champions Cup.

The Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., crew bounced back into the win column and shot 91 percent as a unit to beat Scotland’s Team Ross Paterson 9-3 and finish round-robin play at 2-2.

“That was good,” said Team Jacobs second E.J. Harden, who fired at a 92 percent clip. “The last couple games we were not our best and a little frustrating and disappointing, so it was good to come out with a win and none of us wanted to end this seven-year run not qualifying. …

“It was great for us to put a solid performance together this afternoon and hopefully, at least put ourselves in a chance for a tiebreaker or directly into the playoffs.”

Third Ryan Fry is moving on next season linking up with Toronto’s Team John Epping while 12-time Grand Slam champion Marc Kennedy is returning to competitive curling after a one-year hiatus to join Jacobs.

“We want to take this all the way to the end and on a winning note, which would mean winning this event,” Harnden said. “So for us, we’ll take whatever game we can get as long as we’re still playing.”

Paterson (0-4) was looking to play the spoiler having already been eliminated and kept pace early as the teams alternated deuces to start.

Jacobs started to pull away from there though as he drew for another deuce in the third and stole one in the fourth. Paterson played a dangerous raise on a Jacobs guard trying to run it back and take out the counter but the raised stone stuck around.

With shot stone in his pocket but a messy house in play, Paterson looked to raise his guard in for a deuce but over-curled and had to settle for the single.

Team Paterson had a frustrating sixth end with both of third Kyle Waddell’s rocks failing to cross the hog line. That allowed Jacobs to crowd the house and just needing a short raise takeout to score four and bring out the handshakes.

Calgary’s Team Kevin Koe scored a five-ender in the third during a 7-2 win over Toronto’s Team John Epping. The Pinty’s Cup champion Koe climbed to a 3-0 record to qualify for the playoffs while Epping is now at 2-1.

Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat defeated Team Tyler Tardi of Langley, B.C., 6-4. Mouat advances to the playoffs at 3-1 while Tardi, the world junior men’s champion, heads home at 0-4.

In women’s play, Team Casey Scheidegger of Lethbridge, Alta., kept their hopes alive big time with an 11-2 win over Russia’s Team Vlada Rumyanceva.

Scheidegger (2-2) started off strong with a four-ender off the bat in the first frame. The world junior champion Rumyanceva (0-4) cut the deficit in half with a single in the second and a steal in the third but Scheidegger rolled away with a three-ender in the fourth followed by a steal of four in the fifth.

“We haven’t had the best week here but winning that second game (against Team Tirinzoni) was really important after we lost the first to the big Russians (Team Kovaleva),” Scheidegger said. “We’re really happy to hopefully be in a tiebreaker at least.

“We’re just crossing everything we’re either in or we’re in a tiebreaker, for sure.”

Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg, with spare skip Eve Muirhead from Scotland, advanced to the quarterfinals at 3-1 following a 5-3 victory over Team Elena Stern of Switzerland (0-4).

The action continues at 4 p.m. CST (6 p.m. ET) with broadcast coverage on Sportsnet 360 and online via Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (international).

Round-robin play runs through to Friday with the top eight teams overall in both divisions advancing playoffs. The quarterfinals and semifinals are set for Saturday with both finals scheduled Sunday.

Notes: The Humpty’s Champions Cup is the seventh and final Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 15 men’s teams and 15 women’s teams who won high-profile events over the course of the season to qualify. … 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.