News Masters

OKOTOKS, Alta. — Reigning Olympic gold medallist Brad Jacobs scored a deuce in the eighth end to power his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., squad to a 6-5 victory over Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., in the WFG Masters men’s quarterfinals Saturday.

Jacobs held the hammer coming home trailing by one but didn’t need to make a heroic final shot to win. Team Gushue interim skip Mark Nichols couldn’t eliminate either of Jacobs’ stones sitting at the back of the 12-foot circle as his attempts rolled clear through the port. 

It was an interesting chapter in the “battle of the Brads” this time with Gushue out of the lineup to start the season due to a lingering hip issue. Nichols, who normally throws third, has skipped the team into the playoffs in six consecutive tour events. Charley Thomas of Didsbury, Alta., filled in at vice this week. 

Nichols opened with hammer, but Jacobs put the pressure on right from the start sitting two counters and forcing his opponent to make an open tap for a single in the first end. Jacobs had an opportunity to draw for the go-ahead deuce in three but came up light and had to settle for the tying single.

The point came back to Jacobs in the fourth end on a steal and a 2-1 lead when Nichols came up light on his throw. Nichols bounced back in five with a tap for two and almost looked to get three, however, a measurement determined the third stone was actually outside of the rings. That may have been the turning point as Jacobs countered scoring a deuce in the sixth end as the cat-and-mouse chase for the lead continued. Nichols took two more points in seven to lead by one without hammer coming home.

Jacobs will now face Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock, who kept his undefeated streak intact at 5-0 with a 5-3 victory over David Murdoch of Scotland. 

Niklas Edin of Sweden is also through to the semifinals after beating Toronto’s John Epping 6-4. Edin pulled ahead with a deuce in the second and never relinquished the lead adding a steal of one in three, limiting Epping to another single in five and counting another deuce in six to lead 5-2 with two ends to play. Epping picked up a pair in seven to close the gap to one, but Edin iced the game tacking on another point coming home in eight.

Edin will clash with Reid Carruthers in the second men’s semifinal match (7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet ONE & Sportsnet NOW). There will not be a repeat for reigning champion Mike McEwen, who fell 5-3 to Carruthers in an all-Winnipeg rink match. Carruthers broke a tie with a deuce in seven and McEwen, a six-time Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling champion, was unable to come back in the final frame.

Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Ont., faces EunJung Kim of South Korea, Binia Feltscher and Silvana Tirinzoni meeting in an all-Swiss rink battle, Anna Hasselborg of Sweden taking on Calgary’s Chelsea Carey and Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones playing Ottawa’s Rachel Homan in the women’s quarterfinals (3 p.m. MT on Sportsnet).

NOTES: The WFG Masters is the first of seven events on the 2016-17 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling schedule. … The event is also the first of four majors in the series alongside the Boost National, Meridian Canadian Open and WestJet Players’ Championship. … The WFG Masters runs through to Sunday at Pason Centennial Arena.