McEwen, Jacobs set for Players’ Championship final
TORONTO — Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen and Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., will meet in the Players’ Championship men’s final.
McEwen downed Toronto’s own John Epping 7-3 and Jacobs scored three in the eighth to edge Edmonton’s Team Bottcher 6-5 Sunday morning during the semifinals to book spots to the championship game.
It’s the fourth Grand Slam final of the season for McEwen, who looks to become the first to win all five titles in the series. McEwen defeated Jacobs for the National in November and captured the Syncrude Elite 10 last month. Jacobs, who has won the Brier and Olympic gold medal, seeks his first career Grand Slam title.
Tied 2-2, McEwen scored a deuce in the fourth to pull into the lead for good and stole a pair in the fifth to cushion the gap. Epping was forced to a single in six and McEwen added another point in seven.
Meanwhile, Jacobs made a double takeout with the last rock of the game to score three points and power past Team Bottcher, who called upon Wayne Middaugh of Coldwater, Ont., to skip. Brendan Bottcher had head home to Edmonton to write his final university exam.
Watch the men’s final live on Sportsnet at 7 p.m. ET.
The women’s final is set featuring reigning Canadian Open champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland against Russia’s Anna Sidorova. Watch live on Sportsnet 360 today at 2 p.m. ET.
Muirhead scored four in the sixth end and defeated Ottawa’s Rachel Homan 8-7. Muirhead won the Players’ Championship the previous time it was held at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre two years ago.
Sidorova is off to her first career Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling women’s final with a 5-3 win over Masters champion Val Sweeting of Edmonton. Sweeting was held to one in the first but stole two in the fourth to lead 3-0. Sidorova rallied with a deuce in the fifth, stole a pair in six for the lead and swiped another single in seven.
The Players’ Championship is the fifth and final stop on the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season.
