Canada’s Brad Jacobs maintained his 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 guaranteed a place for a Canadian team at the upcoming world men’s curling championship scheduled for March 27-April 4 in Ogden, Utah.
Jacobs and his team, based in Calgary, took an early lead with two points each in the first and third ends, establishing a 4-1 advantage. Subsequently, Jacobs managed to steal one point in the fourth end and three more in the fifth. Following Australia’s single point in the sixth end, they conceded the match.
With a perfect record of 5-0, Jacobs will conclude the round-robin phase on Friday, facing off 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 early to secure an 11-9 victory against South Korea’s Eunji Gim. Despite Gim taking a 4-1 lead with four points in the second end, Homan’s team from Ottawa quickly turned the tables by outscoring their opponents 6-1 over the following four ends and eventually taking the lead with a two-point steal in the sixth end.
Although South Korea briefly regained the lead with three points in the seventh end, Homan responded with a strong performance, securing three points in the eighth end and maintaining a three-point lead into the final end after stealing one in the ninth.
Later in the day, Homan narrowly lost 7-6 to China’s Rui Wang. This result brought Canada’s record to 3-2, while China remained undefeated at 5-0.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will continue round-robin play on Friday to determine their final standings in the championships.