Jacobs off to Grand Slam final

Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs will have an opportunity to win the final event of the Grand Slam of Curling season.

Thanks to a 9-5 semifinal win over John Epping of Toronto, Ont. on Saturday night, the Jacobs rink will face Kevin Koe of Calgary, Alta. in Sunday’s final at the Champions Cup in Calgary, Alta.

Trailing 5-4, a triple in the sixth and a steal of two more in the seventh sealed Jacobs’ spot in the final.

The Jacobs rink, which includes third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden, would advance to the semifinal thanks to a 9-8 win over Mike McEwen of Winnipeg, Man.

Against McEwen in the quarter-final, Jacobs broke open what was a tight game through four ends with a big fifth after falling behind.

Leading 3-1, the Jacobs rink would fall behind after McEwen scored three in the fourth end.

In the fifth, McEwen would misfire on his first shot of the end while looking to remove four Jacobs rocks. Then on his second shot, McEwen would see his throw slide through the house without touching and of the four Jacobs rocks. Jacobs round then draw to score five to take an 8-4 lead.

McEwen would battle all the way back after scoring a pair in the sixth end before stealing two in the seventh when Jacobs would come up short on a draw. Jacobs would rebound and score one in the eighth end to win and advance.

Epping advanced from the quarter-final thanks to an 8-3 win over Peter De Cruz of Geneva, Switzerland. Trailing 3-2, Epping would score three in the sixth end to take the lead before stealing two more in the seventh to seal the win.

Koe advanced to the semi thanks to a 6-4 win over Niklas Edin of Karlstad, Sweden. Koe scored three in the eighth end to come back for the victory.

Koe advanced to the semifinal thanks to a 7-3 win over John Morris of Vernon, B.C.

Edin moved on thanks to an 8-5 win over Brad Gushue of St. John’s, Nfld. trailing 5-4, Edin scored four in the eighth end to pick up the quarter-final win.

The men’s final is set for 4 p.m. eastern time on Sunday.

On the women’s side, Rachel Homan of Ottawa, Ont. advanced to the final thanks to a 5-0 win over Alina Paetz of Zurich, Switzerland while Anna Hasselborg of Sundbyberg, Sweden beat Jacqueline Harrison of Mississauga, Ont. 7-2.

Paetz got into the semifinal thanks to a 5-4 win over Jamie Sinclair of Blaine, Minn. Homan got through with a 9-5 win in the quarter-finals against Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, Man.

Harrison got through the quarter-final thanks to a 9-4 win over Silvana Tirinzoni of Zurich, Switzerland. Hasselborg advanced to the semifinal after beating Val Sweeting of Edmonton, Alta. 5-4 in the other women’s quarter-final.

The women’s final is set for noon eastern time on Sunday.