Team Carruthers doubles up on Team Retornaz to start WFG Masters
SASKATOON — Brad Jacobs admitted he was a little nervous to start as he made his return to skipping Tuesday during the second draw of the WFG Masters.
Jacobs has been handed the reins with Reid Carruthers now throwing third as the Winnipeg club, ranked 16th in the world, is looking for a spark.
That certainly sparked something as Team Carruthers shot 93 per cent as a unit during a 6-3 victory over Joël Retornaz’s team from Italy.
“That was a really fun game today,” said Jacobs, who won seven Grand Slam titles as a skip before joining Team Carruthers. “I would say I was a little nervous to start the game. It may not have shown but I was. When you have three really great supportive teammates in front of you, they made it pretty easy for me out there.
“It was a lot of fun and it’s always nice to win your first game at these Grand Slams. It’s been a while for us since we’ve done that and hopefully, we can keep it rolling and build some momentum off that win.”
While Carruthers has had a roller-coaster season, Retornaz has been flying high winning back-to-back Grand Slam titles to start the season and soaring to No. 1 in the world.
“They’re having an unbelievable season,” Jacobs said. “They’re a team that our team right now is really studying and looking up to and trying to adopt some of the things that they’re doing. It’s always nice to play against those guys because you know you’re going to have a great battle and you have to be sharp because rarely ever do they miss, but we took advantage of some opportunities today.”
Carruthers, whose team never trailed in the match, opened with the hammer and Jacobs pulled off a double takeout for a deuce in the second to open the scoring.
After Retornaz was forced to a single in the third, Jacobs took two more points in the fourth with an open hit to lead 4-1 at the break.
Retornaz was held to one point again in the fifth and missed a runback in the sixth that allowed Jacobs to draw for another deuce. Jacobs cleared the deck in the seventh, Retornaz opted to take another lonely single point and then shook hands.
Team Bruce Mouat came from behind to beat Team Kevin Koe 8-6 in an extra end. Mouat’s Scottish side is playing short-handed this week as third Grant Hardie is recovering from surgery and did not make the trip overseas.
Trailing 4-0 after two ends, Mouat recovered scoring a deuce in the third and stealing two in the fourth to tie it up. Mouat forced Koe to a single in the sixth, scored another deuce in the seventh and limited the Calgary-based club to another lone point in the eighth to force overtime.
With Koe sitting shot rock exposed, Mouat made a takeout with the last rock of the match to tack two points on the board.
Winnipeg’s Team Matt Dunstone scored a 6-1 win over Team James Craik from Scotland.
Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin earned a 7-4 victory against Team Cameron Bryce in the Scottish squad’s top-tier Grand Slam series debut.
WFG Masters: Scores / Standings | Draw Schedule | Broadcast Schedule
UP NEXT
The WFG Masters continues with Draw 3 at 4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. local time at Merlis Belsher Place. Tickets are available at the box office and online at mbptickets.universitytickets.com/w.
Broadcast coverage begins Thursday at 1 p.m. ET / 12 p.m. local time on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ (Canada) and GSOClive.com (international).
NOTES
The WFG Masters is the third Grand Slam of Curling event of the season featuring 16 of the top men’s teams and 16 of the top women’s teams from around the world. … Round-robin play runs through to Friday evening. The top eight teams in both divisions advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals. If necessary, tiebreakers will be played Saturday morning to determine the final playoff spots. … The semifinals are also scheduled for Saturday with both finals on tap Sunday.
