SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Olympic gold medallist Brad Jacobs’ hopes of winning a hometown Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title are still alive after winning 5-2 over Toronto’s John Epping during the final round robin draw Friday night at the National.
Team Jacobs finished with a 3-2 record to advance to the quarterfinals and will play Reid Carruthers and his Winnipeg rink. Watch the quarterfinals live Saturday on Sportsnet East, Ontario, West & Pacific at Noon ET.
Jacobs opened with a deuce in the first and drew to the button with his final shot in four to score one. Epping settled for singles in the third and sixth ends. Jacobs added a decisive pair in the seventh.
Pinty’s GSOC National: Latest scores & stats
Defending National champion Glenn Howard continued his hot streak to win 5-2 over Calgary’s Matthew Blandford (2-3) and finish the round robin with an undefeated 5-0 record. Howard stole singles in the first and second ends to opening the scoring as he aims to finish the round robin with an undefeated 5-0 record.
Howard earned the top seed at the tournament and felt fantastic after the match.
“Obviously we got such a big break against Mark Kean in our second game and then we just started playing really solid after that,” Howard said. “In the last three games, the guys have been making everything in front of me and I’m making a few shots. I’m pretty happy to be 5-0 so we’re off to the quarterfinals and we’ve still got some games we have to win. Hopefully we get through tomorrow and then win this thing.”
Team Howard plays Team Heath McCormick, from Blaine, Minn., in the quarterfinals.
Calgary’s John Morris (3-2) broke a 2-2 tie with a five-ender in the fifth and earned a 7-4 victory in seven ends over Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton (2-3). Team Morris dropped its first two games but heated up and won three in a row to qualify.
“We just knew we were better than what we were playing so we decided to regroup and take it one game at a time,” said Team Morris lead Nolan Thiessen. “We scraped one out against Mike (McEwen) that we very easily could have lost (Thursday night). It just gave us a little momentum and we came out today and played really well, got two wins and we’re in the playoffs so it’s great.”
Morris meets Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher (4-1) in a “Battle of Alberta” quarterfinal match.
Masters champion Brad Gushue (2-3), from St. John’s, N.L., played the spoiler by winning 4-3 in the extra end over Kevin Koe (2-3) and eliminated the Calgary rink.
Switzerland’s Peter de Cruz (2-3) finished his tournament on a high note with a 7-2 win in five ends over Rob Rumfeldt (0-5) from Guelph, Ont. De Cruz scored deuces in the first and third ends and closed the game scoring a triple in the fifth.
The fourth quarterfinal game sees a rematch between Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock and Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen. Laycock earned a 9-5 victory over McEwen during their round robin match in Draw 8.
