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Jacobs off to Tour Challenge final

Team Jacobs will take on Team Gushue in Sunday afternoon's Tour Challenge final
2019-11-09 Brad Jacobs at Tour Challenge AM
Photo courtesy Anil Mungal/Grand Slam of Curling

Brad Jacobs is off to the final at the latest Grand Slam of Curling event, the Tour Challenge, being held this week in Pictou County, NS.

After advancing to the playoff round with a 3-1 record in round robin action, the Jacobs rink, which includes third Marc Kennedy, second E.J. Harnden, and lead Ryan Harnden, won a pair of games on Saturday to move into the tournament final.

In semifinal action on Saturday evening, Jacobs beat Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher 7-3 to move on, where he will face Brad Gushue of St. John’s, Nfld.

Tied at two through four ends, Jacobs made a tough shot with his last in the fifth end to score four and take a 6-2 lead.

The teams traded singles in the subsequent two ends to cap off the scoring.

“I think we managed the scoreboard really well,” Jacobs told TheGrandSlamOfCurling.com’s Jonathan Brazeau. “We took advantage of our opportunities. We were able to get off to a good start with an early force and then come back with a deuce and then another force and just really control the scoreboard well.

“The guys made everything in front of me. When we had an opportunity or got a break, we took advantage of it and that’s why we won today.”

Jacobs reached Saturday’s semifinal thanks to a 7-5 win over Glenn Howard of Penetanguishene, Ont. in the quarterfinal on Saturday afternoon.

Jacobs took a 1-0 lead in the opening end with the hammer before the teams traded deuces in the third and fourth ends.

With Jacobs leading 3-2, Howard scored three in the fifth end to take the lead.

The lead was short-lived as Jacobs would score three in the sixth end before sealing the win with a steal of one in the eighth end.

Bottcher advanced to the semifinal thanks to a 6-2 win over Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen.

In Saturday’s other semifinal, Gushue beat Calgary’s Kevin Koe 6-3 to advance.

Koe got into the semifinal thanks to a 6-1 win over American John Shuster in the quarter final while Gushue beat Niklas Edin of Sweden in the quarters.

Sunday’s women’s final will see Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man. take on Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg.



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Brad Coccimiglio

About the Author: Brad Coccimiglio

A graduate of Loyalist College’s Sports Journalism program, Brad Coccimiglio’s work has appeared in The Hockey News as well as online at FoxSports.com in addition to regular freelance work with SooToday before joining the team full time.
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