Canada’s Brad Jacobs maintained his perfect record and secured a place 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 in Ogden, Utah from March 27 to April 4.
Jacobs and his Calgary-based team took an early lead by scoring two points each in the first and third ends, establishing a 4-1 advantage. Subsequently, they managed to steal one point in the fourth end and an impressive three points in the fifth end. Following Australia’s single point in the sixth end, they conceded the match.
Having maintained a flawless record of 5-0, Jacobs will conclude the round-robin stage on Friday, facing off against Japan’s Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi (4-1) and the United States’ John Shuster (5-0).
In the women’s competition on the same day, Canada’s Rachel Homan overcame an initial deficit to secure an 11-9 victory against South Korea’s Eunji Gim. Despite Gim’s four-point lead in the second end, Homan’s team quickly turned the tables by outscoring their opponents 6-1 in the subsequent ends. They took the lead by stealing two points in the sixth end.
Although South Korea briefly reclaimed the lead with three points in the seventh end, Homan responded strongly by scoring three points in the eighth end and maintaining a three-point advantage with a steal of one point in the ninth end. However, Homan later suffered a narrow 7-6 defeat against China’s Rui Wang.
Following these 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 events will continue on Friday.