Jacobs drops Grand Slam final

The final shot was the difference and it wasn’t quite meant to be for Brad Jacobs and his team from the Community First Curling Centre in Sault Ste. Marie.

Playing in the Elite 10, a Grand Slam of Curling event, in Port Hawesbury, NS, the Jacobs rink nearly stole a tournament victory from John Morris if not for a shot by Team Morris fourth Jim Cotter.

An angle raise by Cotter on his final shot of the eighth end gave the Morris rink the two it needed to win the end and win the match-play tournament title 1-up.

Jacobs was shot rock prior to Cotter making the shot but the Morris rink sat four stones in the house, meaning removal of the Jacobs rock would give Morris the win.

Team Jacobs, which includes third Ryan Fry, second EJ Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden. advanced to the final thanks to a 3-and-2 win over Kevin Koe of Calgary, Alta. on Saturday afternoon while Morris beat Reid Carruthers of Winnipeg, Man. 4-and-2 in Saturday’s other semifinal.

The Elite 10 uses a match play format that sees teams attempt to win the most ends in each game by either scoring a pair or more with the hammer or stealing without it. Ends do not carry over if blanked. Each blanked end results in a loss of the hammer.

The next Grand Slam of Curling event is the Players’ Championship, which opens on Apr. 11 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto.