Jacobs bid for world championship 2013 ends in Victoria

Brad Jacobs and his team from Sault Ste. Marie found themselves on the cusp of a world championship on Sunday night in Victoria, BC.

Jacobs’ northern Ontario rink – which includes third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden – dropped an 8-6 decision to Sweden’s Niklas Edin in the final of the 2013 World Men’s Curling Championship, marking a disappointing end to a solid tournament for the Canadians.

“I’m proud of the guys,” Jacobs told the Canadian Curling Association website following the loss. “This was such an amazing experience for us. We were just on the wrong side of the inch in that game, and that happens sometimes. You know what? We’re going to hold our heads high. We fought as hard as we could. Congratulations to Sweden — they played awesome.

Edin sealed the win with two points in the eighth end. After Jacobs scored two in the ninth end to cut the lead to 8-6, Edin ran the Canadian team out of rocks in the tenth end to take the win.

Sweden opened up a 2-0 lead in the first end, holding the lead throughout the game.

Edin’s curled for Sweden in the 2011 and 2012 tournaments, winning bronze both times. As a country, Sweden has won gold at the event six times, second to the 34 won by Canadian rinks. Canada has won 49 medals in the 55-year history of the tournament.

For the Canadian team, the Jacobs rink was the first northern Ontario entry to compete in the tournament since Al Hackner’s Thunder Bay rink qualified, and proceeded to win, in 1985. Hackner beat Sweden’s Stefan Hasselborg 6-2 in the final that year.

Earlier in the day, Scotland’s David Murdoch won bronze after a 7-6 win over Denmark’s Rasmus Stjerne.