Canada’s Brad Jacobs maintained a flawless record and secured a spot in the semifinals of the Pan Continental Curling Championships by defeating Australia’s Hugh Millikin 8-2 on Thursday. This victory also ensured a place for a Canadian team at the upcoming world men’s curling championship scheduled from March 27 to April 4 in Ogden, Utah.
Jacobs and his team, based in Calgary, took an early lead by scoring two points each in the first and third ends, establishing a 4-1 advantage. Subsequently, Jacobs’ team managed to steal one point in the fourth end and added three more in the fifth end. The match concluded after Australia scored a single point in the sixth end and conceded.
Currently holding a 5-0 record, Jacobs is set to conclude the round-robin stage on Friday with matches against Japan’s Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi (4-1) and John Shuster from the United States (5-0).
In the women’s division earlier on Thursday, Canada’s Rachel Homan staged a comeback from an initial deficit to secure an 11-9 victory over South Korea’s Eunji Gim. Despite Gim taking an early 4-1 lead with four points in the second end, Homan’s team from Ottawa swiftly responded, outscoring their opponents 6-1 over the subsequent four ends. Homan’s team then took the lead with a steal of two points in the sixth end.
Although South Korea briefly regained the lead at 8-7 with three points in the seventh end, Homan’s team counteracted by scoring three points in the eighth end, securing a three-point advantage going into the final end with a steal of one point in the ninth.
Later, Homan’s team suffered a narrow 7-6 defeat to China’s Rui Wang, causing Canada’s record to drop to 3-2 while China maintained a perfect 5-0 record. Round-robin matches for both the men’s and women’s categories will continue on Friday.
