Canada’s Brad Jacobs maintained his unbeaten streak and secured a spot in the semifinals of the Pan Continental Curling Championships by defeating Australia’s Hugh Millikin 8-2 on Thursday. The victory also guaranteed a Canadian team a place in the upcoming world men’s curling championship scheduled for March 27 to April 4 in Ogden, Utah.
Jacobs and his team, based in Calgary, took an early lead by scoring two points in the first and third ends, establishing a 4-1 advantage. They continued their dominance by adding one point in the fourth end and three more in the fifth. The Australian team conceded after scoring a single point in the sixth end.
With a flawless 5-0 record, Jacobs will conclude the round-robin matches on Friday against Japan’s Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi (4-1) and John Shuster of the United States (5-0).
In the women’s competition earlier on Thursday, Canada’s Rachel Homan staged a comeback after falling behind to secure an 11-9 victory over South Korea’s Eunji Gim. Despite Gim’s early lead of 4-1 with four points in the second end, Homan’s team from Ottawa swiftly turned the tide by outscoring their opponents 6-1 in the following ends. They seized 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 responded by scoring three points in the eighth end and maintaining a three-point advantage into the final end with a steal of one point in the ninth.
Subsequently, Homan’s team suffered a narrow 7-6 loss to China’s Rui Wang. This result caused Canada’s record to dip to 3-2, while China remained undefeated at 5-0.
Both the men’s and women’s round-robin matches will continue on Friday.
