Jacobs slides past Schwaller and into Humpty’s Champions Cup playoffs
Team Brad Jacobs have found their form again in the Humpty’s Champions Cup.
After a 1-2 start and on the brink of early elimination in the first of back-to-back Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling events at Calgary’s WinSport Arena, the crew from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., have now won two straight games to qualify for the playoffs.
Jacobs, who has captured seven men’s titles in the series including the past three in a row, needed a side quest Sunday afternoon through the tiebreakers to advance to the quarterfinals and topped Switzerland’s Team Yannick Schwaller 6-4.
Team Jacobs shot 96 per cent as a unit with their skip leading the way at a jaw-dropping 98 per cent clip. Jacobs will now take on Calgary’s Team Kevin Koe (3-1) in the quarterfinals.
The other side of the men’s playoff bracket sees a rematch of last Sunday’s world championship final with gold medallists Team Niklas Edin of Sweden meeting silver medallists Team Bruce Mouat of Scotland in the quarterfinals.
Team Brad Gushue (4-0) of St. John’s, N.L., and Team Brendan Bottcher (3-1) received byes and await the winners in the semifinals.
Humpty’s Champions Cup: Scores and standings | Draw schedule | Broadcast schedule
Meanwhile, Japan’s Team Satsuki Fujisawa ousted Scotland’s Team Eve Muirhead 7-4 and RCF’s Team Alina Kovaleva doubled up 4-2 on Team Min-Ji Kim of South Korea in the two women’s tiebreakers.
Fujisawa faces Ottawa’s Team Rachel Homan (3-1) in the quarterfinals and Kovaleva clashes with Switzerland’s Team Silvana Tirinzoni (3-1).
Undefeated Team Kerri Einarson (4-0) of Gimli, Man., and Team Tracy Fleury (4-0) of East St. Paul, Man., earned byes to the semifinals.
The series is testing a new rule at the Humpty’s Champions Cup called the no tick zone. A rock touching the centre line, in the free guard zone, may not be moved off the centre line by the opposing team until the sixth rock of the end.
The quarterfinals go down at 6 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. local time on Sportsnet 360 followed by the semifinals at 10 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. local time with online streaming at Sportsnet Now (Canada) and Yare (international).
The championship games on tap for Monday. There’s no rest for the world’s best with the Princess Auto Players’ Championship set to begin Tuesday. Both events are closed to the general public.
