Canada’s Brad Jacobs maintained an unblemished 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 spot for a Canadian team at the upcoming world men’s curling championship scheduled for March 27 to April 4 in Ogden, Utah.
Jacobs and his team, hailing from Calgary, took an early lead with two points each in the first and third ends, establishing a 4-1 advantage. The team further solidified their position by stealing one point in the fourth end and adding three more in the fifth. Following a single point by Australia in the sixth end, the Australians conceded the match.
With a perfect record of 5-0, Jacobs will conclude the round-robin stage on Friday, facing off 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 overcame an initial deficit to secure an 11-9 victory against South Korea’s Eunji Gim. Gim had a strong start with four points in the second end, taking a 4-1 lead over the defending champion, Homan. However, Homan’s team from Ottawa swiftly responded, outscoring Gim 6-1 over the subsequent four ends and claiming the lead with a steal of two points in the sixth end.
Despite South Korea briefly regaining the lead at 8-7 with three points in the seventh end, Homan fought back with three points in the eighth end, maintaining a three-point lead into the final end with a steal of one point in the ninth. Homan later suffered a 7-6 loss to China’s Rui Wang.
Following the results, Canada’s record stands at 3-2, while China remains undefeated at 5-0. Round-robin matches for both the men’s and women’s competitions will continue on Friday.
