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Brad Jacobs is assured a spot in the Championship Pool of the 2019 Tim Hortons Brier in Brandon, Man.
Thanks to a pair of wins on Tuesday, the Jacobs rink is assured a spot in the Championship Pool with a perfect 6-0 record.
The Northern Ontario entry, which includes third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden, and fifth Lee Toner capped off the day on Tuesday night with a 9-5 win over Manitoba’s Mike McEwen.
The two teams traded deuces in the opening two ends before Jacobs took a 4-2 lead in the third end.
After a McEwen single in the fourth, Jacobs proceeded to score two more in the fifth end. Jacobs ultimately sealed the win with one final deuce in the ninth end.
The week has been smooth for the Jacobs rink as the team moves toward the Championship Pool.
“We’re doing all of the things we wanted to do coming in, which is being patient, playing with confidence, playing with the right amount of energy and not getting to high or not getting too low, supporting each other, and just knowing that it’s going to be a long week and conserving energy where we can,” E.J. Harnden said in a Curling Canada interview.
In Tuesday’s morning draw, Jacobs defeated Saskatchewan’s Kirk Muyers 7-5.
The matchup marked the first time in the tournament the Jacobs rink had a game go 10 ends in the event.
“It’s good to get into some tight games,” E.J. Harnden told Curling.ca’s John Korobanik following the morning win. “We expect to be in many more so to go 10 ends is good for our team and to get the result, so we’re happy about that. Today was a good test for us and to feel what a tight game is going to feel like … and we handled it well and able to break it open late.”
Jacobs opened the game with a pair in the opening end.
After the teams traded singles in the subsequent ends, Jacobs increased his lead to 4-1 with a steal in the fourth end.
Muyers would get back into the game with a deuce in the fifth.
After Jacobs blanked the sixth end, he proceeded to score three in the seventh end to take a commanding lead.
Muyers picked up a single in the eighth and a steal of one in the ninth but couldn’t pick up another steal in the final end, making the final 7-5.
The Jacobs rink is one of three teams that clinched a Championship Pool spot on Tuesday.
With Jacobs in first in the pool, Brendan Bottcher (Wild Card) sits in second in Pool A with a 5-1 record.
In Pool B, Alberta’s Kevin Koe is in top spot and clinched a Championship Pool, berth after starting the tournament with a 5-0 record heading into Wednesday.
Jacobs is back in action on Wednesday in the afternoon draw against Yukon’s Jon Solberg
The 16-team event features two pools of eight teams each.
After playing each team in their own pool once, the top four teams in each pool advance to the Championship Pool, which begins on Thursday afternoon.
Teams will carry over their records into the pool.
After two days of Championship Pool action, the top four teams advance to the Page Playoff, which is set for Saturday with third and fourth place teams meeting at 3 p.m. (eastern time), followed by the first and second place teams at 8 p.m.
The winner of the 3vs4 game will face the loser of the 1vs2 game in semifinal action on Sunday afternoon.
The semifinal winner will meet the 1vs2 winner in the final on Sunday night.