The first Grand Slam of Curling event came to an end for Brad Jacobs and his team from the Community First Curling Centre on Saturday night.
Playing in the match play Elite 10 event in Chatham-Kent, Ont., the Jacobs rink, which includes third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden, and lead Ryan Harnden, lost to Brad Gushue of St. John’s, Nfld. in semifinal action.
Jacobs got to the semifinal with a win over Calgary’s Kevin Koe in the quarterfinal on Saturday afternoon.
The Jacobs rink advanced to playoff round action after winning a pair of round robin games to bounce back from an 0-2 start to the event.
Jacobs picked up round robin wins over Ross Paterson of Scotland and Niklas Edin of Sweden in the round robin.
The Jacobs rink opened the event with losses to Reid Carruthers of Winnipeg and Koe.
In an interview with Sportsnet following the quarterfinal win over Koe, Jacobs spoke of rebounding from the 0-2 start to the tournament.
“Early on we were struggling with the ice conditions and we really had a good chat about that about just trying to be patient and just trying to make some shots,” Jacobs said. “It’s been tough ice and the more that we let that get to us, the worse off we’re going to be. We kept our composure and we’ve been patient and it paid off.”
Gushue earned a semifinal berth after finishing the round robin in second on the men’s side with a 3-1 record.
Saturday’s other semifinal saw Carruthers advance with a win over John Epping of Toronto.
Carruthers advanced directly into the semifinal with a 4-0 record in the round robin.
Epping beat Glenn Howard in the quarterfinal after posting a 2-2 record in the round robin.
The Elite 10 features match play rules where teams compete to win the most ends per game. The format is similar to that of a skins game.
Points are scored by either counting two or more rocks with the hammer or a steal of one without. Games that are tied through eight ends are decided by a draw to the button.
The top six teams on the men’s and women’s side advance to the playoff round and the top two teams receive byes into the semifinal.
The next Grand Slam of Curling event is the Masters, which begins on Oct. 23 in Truro, NS.