Canada’s Brad Jacobs secured a men’s curling playoff spot at the Winter Olympics by defeating Great Britain’s Bruce Mouat 9-5 on Tuesday. Jacobs and his team, based in Calgary and consisting of Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant, and Ben Hebert, scored three points in the seventh end, followed by back-to-back singles. Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller led with a 7-0 record, while Canada followed closely at 6-1.
The top four teams out of the 10-team draw will advance to the semifinals on Thursday night. Canada is scheduled to play Joel Retornaz of host Italy on Wednesday afternoon and Norway’s Magnus Ramsfjell on Thursday morning. The gold-medal game is set to take place on Saturday at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium.
In women’s curling action, Canada’s Rachel Homan defeated Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg 8-6 during round-robin play at the Winter Olympics. Homan, along with teammates Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew, and Sarah Wilkes from Ottawa, secured the win with a deuce in the 10th end, handing Sweden its first loss of the competition.
Canada now holds a 4-3 record with two games remaining. Homan’s next matches are against host Italy on Wednesday and South Korea’s Eunji Gim on Thursday. The victory against Sweden improved Canada’s standing to tie for fourth place with South Korea, while Sweden fell to a 6-1 record.