Marc Kennedy and Brad Jacobs celebrate Canada's victory over Great Britain on Tuesday, which secured them a place in the Olympic bonspiel's semi-final.Jennifer Lorenzini/Reuters
Team Brad Jacobs has booked a spot in the Olympic semi-finals at Milan Cortina, following a 9-5 victory over Bruce Mouat’s world championship-winning rink from Great Britain on Tuesday.
Jacobs’s Canadian team improved to 6-1 in the men’s Olympic curling bonspiel, good for second place in the round-robin standings with two games left.
“Bring it on. There’s nothing this team can’t handle,” said Jacobs, on Canada’s ability to deal with the distraction of the ‘double-touch’ controversy.
“We can handle anything,” added the skip. “The harder things are, the sweeter the victory.”
Switzerland, who moved to 7-0 on Tuesday, sits first, and has also clinched a semi-final berth. Mouat’s side, who came to Cortina as the gold medal favourite, is now at risk of missing the playoffs, sitting 4-4.
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There are 10 teams in the men’s bonspiel at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, but only the top four get to play in Thursday’s semi-finals.
Mouat came to Cortina as the pick to claim gold in the men’s event. He earned silver at the 2022 Beijing Olympics and his rink has been world champions in three of the past five years.
“Those guys have had our number for a decade, my entire career, so to get that monkey off our back in the biggest event that we have all ever played in is a big deal for us,” said Jacobs.
Jacobs’s Canadian side, which also includes Ben Hebert, Brett Gallant and Marc Kennedy, opened with two in the first end for a fast lead, before a triple in the third and a pair of singles in the eighth and ninth ends put Mouat’s side away early, a world-leading team that hasn’t hit its stride yet in Cortina.
Canada's Brett Gallant, Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert were thrilled to get a win over a British team that's been dominant in recent years, taking three of the last five world championships.Fatima Shbair/The Associated Press
“[Mouat] missed a couple, and Brad made a couple big ones, and that’s the difference, but that is that is an unbelievable team,” said Kennedy. “They have set the bar for curling over the past four or five years. I know it’s been a bit of a struggle for them this week, but man, the sport has changed because of how good they are.”
For the first time after Tuesday’s win, Marc Kennedy was not asked in his postgame interviews about his expletive-filled on-ice exchange with Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson on Friday after the Swede accused him of double-touching the rock. Kennedy looked relieved that the controversy might finally be winding down.
“Oh my gosh, I was just waiting for the nuclear question,” said a relieved Kennedy with a laugh.
Homan remains in the hunt
Rachel Homan’s Canadian rink rallied back into contention for a playoff spot on Tuesday by handing Sweden its first loss of the women’s Olympic curling bonspiel in Cortina.
Team Homan improved to 4-3 with two games left to go in round robin play, thanks to an 8-6 victory over Anna Hasselborg’s Swedish team (6-1).
Canada’s women sit tied with Republic of Korea in the standings, behind Sweden (who has already punched its ticket), Switzerland and the U.S.
Just like in the men’s tournament, the top four advance to the semis.
Tuesday’s game featured two of the best skips in the women’s game. Hasselborg won gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and bronze at the Beijing Winter Games in 2022. Homan, a world champ, is taking part in her third Games, but has yet to win a medal.
Sarah Wilkes, Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Rachel Homan of Canada celebrate their win against Sweden on Tuesday. It marked first-place Sweden's first loss in the Olympic bonspiel.Issei Kato/Reuters
With the hammer in the 10th end, Homan’s side, which also includes Sarah Wilkes, Emma Miskew and Tracy Fleury, scored a deuce to secure the win after a back-and-forth contest.
“We were hoping that we could put enough pressure on that we’d have a chance in the end,” said Miskew. “It was a good battle.”
The Canadian women still need to face Italy on Wednesday (1 p.m. ET) and Republic of Korea on Thursday (3 a.m. ET).
Canada’s men also play Italy on Wednesday (at 8 a.m. ET) and Norway (Thursday 3 a.m. ET).
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