With a playoff spot booked, Brad Jacobs and his team representing Canada at the 2025 World Men’s Curling Championship picked up a pair of wins on Thursday at the nine-day event in Moose Jaw, Sask.
Team Jacobs, which includes third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant, and lead Ben Hebert, now holds a 9-1 record heading into the final day of the round robin on Friday.
Jacobs opened play on Thursday with an 8-2 win over China, skipped by Xiaoming Xu, in the morning draw.
After a hit for two in the opening end gave Jacobs the early lead, the Canadian skip made a draw for two more in the third end to take a 4-1 lead.
Jacobs made it a 5-2 game in the fifth after a draw for one and added a pair in the sixth end on a steal to extend the lead to 7-2.
Jacobs capped off the win with a steal of one more in the seventh end.
“We’re good at defending. I think our stats really show how good we are at defending,” Jacobs said in a media scrum posted by Curling Canada. “We’re comfortable when we’re up, I mean every team is, but we’ve got some good systems and game plans in place that allow us to defend well. We’re not afraid to mix it up sometimes, we’re not afraid to make tough chases around guards, and sometimes your best defence is still a little bit of offence. We’re getting more comfortable with leaving rocks out front and playing in the rings, and playing some of the more delicate, soft-touch shots, trying to lay a few on their last and get the force.”
In Thursday’s evening draw, Jacobs capped off the day with a 10-4 win over Switzerland, skipped by Yannick Schwaller.
After the Swiss blanked the opening end and Benoit Schwarz, who throws skip stones, made a hit for one to open the scoring in the second end, Jacobs scored a pair in the second end to get on the board.
Schwarz would try a tap for two in the fourth end, but only get one, making it a 2-2 game.
Jacobs broke the game open some in the fifth end as he made a double to score three and give Canada a 5-2 lead.
In the sixth end and facing five Canadian rocks, a draw attempt by Schwarz came up light and led to a steal of one and a 6-2 Canadian lead through six ends.
A hit for a pair made by Schwarz in the seventh end made it 6-4 before Jacobs scored four in the eighth end to cap