News Tour Challenge

CHARLOTTETOWN — Brad Jacobs and his Calgary-based club are heading straight to the quarterfinals of the HearingLife Tour Challenge.

Jacobs qualified undefeated through the A Event following a 7-5 victory over Winnipeg’s Team Matt Dunstone during Draw 11 Thursday at the Bell Aliant Centre.

The first Grand Slam of Curling event of the season features triple knockout — with A, B and C Event brackets — where teams must win three games before they lose three to advance to the playoffs.

“Any time you can qualify in these Slams, it’s quite an accomplishment and to go A-side is always nice,” Jacobs said. “We get a little bit of rest now heading into the playoffs. We’re on three weeks in a row, so I know we’ll all appreciate the rest going into the playoffs. This is the best that we’ve played so far — the last two games, especially — as a team, so it feels like we’re settling in nicely.”

The seven-time Grand Slam champion Jacobs linked up with third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert following the conclusion of last season after the trio decided to part ways with skip Brendan Bottcher and move in a different direction. Jacobs, who is from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., was already familiar with Kennedy having played together previously and winning three titles in the series, but the skip is gelling with Gallant and Hebert, too.

“The thing that I noticed right from the beginning with this team is our dynamic has been awesome both on and off the ice,” Jacobs said. “We’re getting along so well as they get to know me better. I mean, I know Marc but especially Ben and Brett, it just feels like we’re really growing close and that’s a nice feeling.

“I’m coming in as a skip with three guys who are the nucleus of the team and well-established. Coming in at skip is a little different than replacing a lead or a second. It’s a little bit of a challenge. I knew that it was going to take several games before we got comfortable, but we continue to have great conversations and continue to work hard to figure things out. I feel like we’re making strides and we’re really getting there.”

It was Dunstone who got off to a good start in the A-qualifier though and capped the first end with an open hit to count three. A straight runback in the second didn’t go entirely as planned for Dunstone though as his raised rock rolled out and allowed Jacobs to draw for a deuce.

Dunstone made a double takeout in the third with his shooter sticking around for a single and Jacobs made a come-around tap to score two in the fourth to tie it up 4-all heading into the break.

Jacobs pulled ahead in the fifth as he sat two stones in the house, Dunstone hit one and rolled out to give up a single steal.

Dunstone regrouped and drew for a single in the seventh, but handed Jacobs the hammer coming home with a one-point lead. Jacobs hit and stuck to tack another point on the board in the eighth.

“After we gave up the three in the first, we collectively came together after the end was finished and just said let’s get a deuce back and that was exactly what we did,” Jacobs said. “We played a really good end. I think just getting that two back knowing that we were still very much in the game and it was early, it gave us the confidence to just continue to roll and figure out the sheet and make some shots and that’s what we did. 

“I’m really proud of my teammates for their resiliency and the way that they hung in there and just continued to make shots all game. It was a great, collective team effort.”

With the quarterfinals not until Saturday, Jacobs has a full day off in Gallant’s hometown.

“I keep calling him the mayor,” Jacobs said. “I know that he’s really excited to be home and to see some of his friends and family. They’ve got their little guy Luke here, so I know that he’s going to appreciate a day off and maybe he can tour us around to a few places. Maybe we can meet some more people in the community and we’ll just continue to play hard for Brett and his hometown. It would be pretty sweet if we could keep playing well and bring home this title for him in his hometown.”

Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat also advanced with an unblemished 3-0 record after two in the eighth end to edge Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin 5-4.

Both Dunstone and Edin hold 2-1 records and dropped into Friday’s B-qualifiers with another opportunity to reach the quarterfinals. Dunstone will play Team Yannick Schwaller of Switzerland and Edin goes up against Saskatoon’s Team Mike McEwen. The third B-qualifier features Calgary’s Team Kevin Koe against Team Ross Whyte of Scotland.

In C Event matches, Team John Shuster defeated Team Korey Dropkin 8-3 in an all-American clash and Scotland’s Team Cameron Bryce bounced Winnipeg’s Team Reid Carruthers 6-2.

Shuster and Bryce are still in it to win it with 1-2 records while Dropkin and Carruthers have been eliminated at 0-3.

Dropkin was playing short-handed this week as second Mark Fenner was out with a hip injury.

Shuster meets Italy’s Team Joël Retornaz and Bryce will battle Team Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., in their next matches.

UP NEXT

Triple knockout play continues with Draw 12 at 8 p.m. AT / 7 p.m. ET. Watch live on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet+.

Tickets are available at tourchallenge.goigniter.com and online streaming for all Tier 1 games available here at thegrandslamofcurling.com.

NOTES

The HearingLife Tour Challenge features 64 of the best men’s and women’s teams from around the world split into two tiers. … Tier 2 winners receive invitations to the WFG Masters in January. … Eight teams in each division qualify for Saturday’s quarterfinals … The semifinals are also scheduled for Saturday with the finals set for Sunday.