Jacobs tops Morris in Tour Challenge Draw 4
REGINA — Brad Jacobs was making up for lost time Wednesday at the Tour Challenge Tier 1.
The reigning Olympic men’s champion from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., was among those who missed the first day of the season-opening Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event Tuesday due to cancelled flights that forced organizers to make some last-minute changes to the draw schedule.
Jacobs, who closed out last season winning the Humpty’s Champions Cup, picked up where he left off in the win column defeating John Morris 8-5 during Draw 4 Wednesday.
“We were supposed to arrive here Monday evening and our flight was cancelled,” Team Jacobs second E.J. Harnden said. “We then tried to fly out the next day, our flight was delayed and we had to take a different airline and then get back onto the original airline we were supposed to take to get here in time late last night.
“We were already a game behind, a little bit tired, but we’re just excited to be here, start the season and obviously start the season with a win is a plus.”
After Jacobs (1-0) opened with a steal, the teams alternated singles and Morris scored a deuce in four to hold a 3-2 lead at the break. Jacobs was forced to another lone point in five and Morris counted another couple points in six to go up 5-3.
The momentum swung back in Jacobs’s favour in the seventh with a five count and Morris ran out of rocks in the eighth.
“I think it was just a good first game, obviously to get a win under our belt early. Both teams made some good shots and both teams let the other team off the hook as well,” Harnden said. “It was back and forth. There were some well-played shots and some misses out there and fortunately for us, we got a good break in seven to get the five and that put us ahead.”
“I think both teams kind of felt, with the ice being a little bit tricky, and again being the first game together of the year as a team, you never felt 100 per cent comfortable out there whether you had the lead or not or whether an end was setting up well or not it was always one little miss away from turning the other way,” he added. “I think it was good for us to be in a game like this early on. We got down, we were able to battle back and grind out a win and I think that’s important for us to start the year.”
Morris, the 2010 Olympic gold medallist, and his team from Vernon, B.C., dropped to a 0-2 record losing to Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock during Draw 2 Tuesday.
Pat Simmons (1-1) and his Winnipeg-based team picked up a 7-5 win over Sweden’s Niklas Edin (0-1).
Switzerland’s Peter de Cruz (1-0) scored a 5-4 victory over Glenn Howard (0-2) of Penetanguishene, Ont., thanks to a clutch final shot from fourth Benoit Schwarz to score the single in the eighth.
Norway’s Steffen Walstad (1-0) won in his Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling series debut doubling up 8-4 on Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers (0-1).
In women’s play, Eve Muirhead topped Jacqueline Harrison of Mississauga, Ont., 7-6. Both teams hold 1-1 records.
TIER 2
Carl deConinck Smith of Rosetown, Sask., improved to a 2-0 record defeating Dayna Deruelle (0-1) of Kingston, Ont., 6-3.
Adam Casey (1-0) crushed Jason Ackerman 11-2 in an all-Regina team match. Ackerman is now at 0-2.
Reigning Tour Challenge Tier 2 champion Greg Balsdon of Kingston, Ont., earned a 7-5 win over China’s Rui Liu. Both teams are level at 1-1 records.
Winnipeg’s William Lyburn (1-0) edged Saskatoon’s Jason Jacobson 4-3. Jacobson fell to a 0-2 record.
In women’s play, Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson beat EunJung Kim of South Korea 6-2. Einarson holds a 2-0 record while Kim is even at 1-1.
NOTES
The Tour Challenge is the season-opening event of the 2017-18 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling calendar and runs through to Sunday at the Co-operators Centre at Evraz Place. … TV coverage begins Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sportsnet. … Winners of the Tier 1 division receive invites to the season-ending Pinty’s GSOC event, the Humpty’s Champions Cup, running April 24-29 in Calgary. … Winners of the Tier 2 division earn berths to the following Pinty’s GSOC event, the Masters, taking place Oct. 24-29 in Lloydminster, Sask.
