Next up is the playoff round for Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs and his team from the Community First Curling Centre at the first Grand Slam of Curling event of the season.
Competing in the Tour Challenge in Regina, Sask., the Jacobs rink wrapped up round robin action on Friday with a 7-5 loss to Norway’s Steffen Walstad to finish the round robin with a 3-1 record.
The Jacobs rink, which includes third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden, fell behind early against Walstad as the Norwegian scored a pair in the first end before stealing two more in the second end when Jacobs was heavy on a draw.
With the hammer in the third end, Jacobs would settle for one but would steal one in the fourth and two more in the fifth end to tie things up at four.
Walstad would draw for three in in the sixth end to take a commanding lead. Jacobs would get just one back in the seventh.
The Jacobs rink clinched a spot in Saturday’s quarter-finals thanks to a pair of wins on Thursday while Walstad’s win over Jacobs clinched a playoff spot at well.
In total, six playoff spots had been spoken for heading into the final Tier 1 men’s draw on Friday evening and the final two spots being clinched during the final draw.
Jacobs, who finished second to Walstad in Pool C, will face American John Shuster in quarter-final action on Saturday evening at 5:30 eastern time. Shuster finished second in Pool A with a 3-1 record.
Walstad would finish he round robin with a perfect 4-0 record and will face Pat Simmons of Winnipeg, Man., who finished second in Pool B with a 3-1 record.
The other men’s quarter-final matchups will see John Epping (4-0) of Toronto, Ont. face Sweden’s Niklas Edin (2-2) and Brad Gushue (4-0) of St. John’s, Nfld. will face Steve Laycock (2-2) of Saskatoon, Sask.
The Tour Challenge features 60 teams split into two tiers. 15 men’s and 15 women’s teams comprise Tier 1 with all the teams coming from the World Curling Tour’s Order of Merit.
Tier 2 also features 15 teams in each of the men’s and women’s divisions.
The Tier 1 champions receive an automatic berth in the final Grand Slam of Curling event of the season, the Champions Cup, which includes the winners of all of the major curling events throughout the season.
The Tier 2 champions earn a spot in the second Grand Slam of Curling event of the season, the Masters, which is set to be held in Loydminster, Sask., beginning on Oct. 24.