CRANBROOK, B.C. — Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., eliminated Calgary’s Kevin Koe with a thrilling 6-4 victory Friday night to reach the tiebreaker stage at the Tour Challenge.
Jacobs drew for two in the seventh to break a tie and take a two-point lead and put the pressure on in eight. Koe cleared most of the house with an amazing quad takeout, however, Jacobs fired an entertaining double of his own to run the defending Tour Challenge champion out of rocks.
“I think it was obviously great to first, get the win there, and then second, to win on an exciting shot,” Team Jacobs second E.J. Harnden said, “and a big shot for us to hopefully get a little bit of the momentum going in our favour moving into the tiebreaker and then hopefully into the playoffs from there.”
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Both teams entered the match with 1-2 records and needed a victory to advance. It was a tight back-and-forth affair with the teams trading deuces in the first two frames. Koe blanked the third thanks to an around-the-house triple takeout by Team Jacobs third Ryan Fry.
The reigning world champ Koe was forced to draw to the four-foot circle for a single in the fourth after Jacobs made a double to lie two counters.
Jacobs scored a pair in the fifth end and Koe was forced to draw for just one again in six to make it all square 4-4 heading into the final two ends of play.
Harnden believes it’ll just take patience to pull off the win in Saturday’s morning tiebreaker at 8 a.m. MT against Niklas Edin. The Soo crew look to avenge a disappointing extra-end loss to the Swedish side in the WFG Masters final two weeks ago.
“I think a lot of the teams and ourselves included are throwing well,” Harnden said. “The ice is tough, the rocks are tough, so it’s just knowing that you’re going to get some misses out there, trying to stay patient and just grind through games and get the win regardless of the performance.”
Edin earned a 5-4 comeback victory over Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher to secure his spot in the tiebreaker.
The two-time world champ Edin opened with a deuce, but Bottcher got into the lead with a point in three followed by back-to-back stolen singles in four and five. Edin fired back with a hit and stick through a narrow port for a deuce in six, stole in seven and a laser measurement only gave Bottcher one in eight.
American John Shuster plays Thomas Ulsrud of Norway in the second men’s tiebreaker.
Meanwhile, Kyle Smith (3-1) of Scotland pushed past Toronto’s John Epping 6-4 and into the quarterfinals.
Smith scored a deuce in the first, stole singles in two and three, held Epping to one in the fourth and counted another pair in five.
Epping made an amazing double to score two in the sixth and stole one in seven but it was too little, too late as he ran out of options without the hammer coming home.
Epping has been eliminated with a 1-3 record.
Smith will face Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers in the quarterfinals (Saturday 4 p.m. MT). Team Gushue, of St. John’s, N.L., meets Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock. John Morris of Vernon, B.C., and Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen await the tiebreaker winners.
Two women’s tiebreaker matches were also underway Friday night.
Anna Hasselborg of Sweden topped Japan’s Ayumi Ogasawara 6-2. Hasselborg was up one with the hammer coming home and tacked on a trey in the eighth.
Michelle Englot and her Winnipeg-based team swiped a 7-2 victory over Chelsea Carey of Calgary. Englot stole one in the third for the lead and took three more in the fourth to lead 5-1 at the break. Carey, the reigning Scotties Tournament of Hearts champion, was held to a single in five, Englot matched in six and stole another point in seven to bring out handshakes.
Kelsey Rocque of Edmonton and defending women’s champ Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland will meet in the third tiebreaker Saturday morning.
Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Ont., and Ottawa’s Rachel Homan are the top seeds with 4-0 records. Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones (3-1) will also face a tiebreaker winner.
Edmonton’s Val Sweeting (3-1) and Tracy Fleury (2-2) of Sudbury, Ont., is the only set women’s quarterfinal match (Saturday Noon MT).
NOTES: The Tour Challenge is the second of seven events on the 2016-17 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling schedule. … Edin and Allison Flaxey of Caledon, Ont., were both first-time Grand Slam winners in the first leg, the WFG Masters, capturing their titles Oct. 30 in Okotoks, Alta. … The Tour Challenge runs through to Sunday at Western Financial Place (all Tier 1 games and Tier 2 finals) and Memorial Arena (Tier 2 games from round-robin play to semifinals).
