Jacobs off to Canadian Open final

The team has two Grand Slam of Curling wins under its belt and Sunday will be an opportunity for a third consecutive tournament title for Brad Jacobs.

The Jacobs rink, which includes third Marc Kennedy, second E.J. Harnden, and lead Ryan Harnden, booked a spot in the Canadian Open men’s final Saturday thanks to a semifinal win over Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen.

The Jacobs rink, which won the past two Grand Slam events, has five consecutive wins at the Canadian Open, which began Tuesday night in Yorkton, Sask.

Jacobs went 3-0 in the round robin of the triple knockout event and picked up a quarterfinal win over Glenn Howard of Penetanguishene, Ont. earlier in the day Saturday before beating McEwen 6-3 on Saturday night in seven ends to advance to Sunday’s final.

Against McEwen, Jacobs jumped out to a 2-0 lead with the hammer in the opening end and had a 3-1 lead through three ends.

After McEwen cut the lead to 3-2 in the fourth end. Jacobs scored a pair in the fifth and stole one more in the sixth to take a 6-2 lead.

McEwen got one in the seventh before conceding.

Jacobs will face Toronto’s John Epping in Sunday’s final after the Epping rink defeated Brad Gushue of St. John’s, Nfld. in the other semifinal.

Trailing 4-3 through six ends, Epping scored four in the seventh end to pick up the win.

The men’s final is slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. Sault time.

Earlier in the day Saturday, Jacobs jumped out to a 5-0 lead over Howard through two ends thanks to a single with the hammer in the first end and a steal of four in the second en route to an 8-4 win.

With Jacobs leading 6-2, Howard cut into the lead with a single in the fifth and a steal of one in the sixth end to cut the lead to 6-4 before Jacobs sealed the win with two in the seventh.