MOOSE JAW, Sask. — Canada's Brad Jacobs went with his gut over analytics in a showdown with Scotland's Bruce Mouat on Monday at the BKT World Men's Curling Championship.
It was a decision that came a whisker away from paying off.
Rather than trying to steal in the 10th end for a victory, Jacobs conceded a single in the ninth and kept hammer with a two-point deficit.
His runback triple nearly scored three for the win but a Canadian stone just rolled out. The host side settled for a deuce and Mouat made a hit in the extra end for a 6-5 victory.
"We had that opportunity and man, if we hit that a little thicker or a little thinner, we get three," said Canada vice Marc Kennedy. "We kind of got it right in the spot where we would get a deuce.
"But it was super close and we fought hard. The crowd would have loved that and it made for a pretty entertaining finish."
After the throw, stones moved every which way. It took a few seconds for the players and spectators to figure out how many rocks had hung around to score.
The near-sellout crowd at the Temple Gardens Centre still gave Jacobs, Kennedy, Brett Gallant and Ben Hebert a standing ovation for the game-tying effort.
"I don't think you could get any closer," Jacobs said. "The shot was probably there to stick that shooter back for three and get all three of theirs going. So any time you have a shot to win the game is great.
"You'd hope that it's a little easier than a run triple, but we still made the run triple. Just couldn't hold the shooter."
It was Scotland's fourth straight win while Canada fell to 3-1.
The matchup was like a curling version of a heavyweight fight. The top-ranked Scots and third-ranked Canadians went back and forth with stellar shotmaking from both sides.
Scotland was steady with its runbacks and put the pressure on in the second end. Jacobs' thin double-takeout attempt knocked one stone out and Mouat drew for three.
Canada responded in the third as Jacobs took out two Scottish stones and had his own rock spin up to minimize the chance of a Mouat double. The 2023 world champion still tried it but it rolled out and Jacobs drew for a pair.
Four blanks followed ahead of an eighth end that saw both skips throw their final stones away, giving Scotland a single. In the ninth, Mouat made a tap to sit three and Jacobs conceded a point by making a double-takeout rather than drawing for one.
The chances of coming back against the world's top team weren't great either way, but the situation generally improves by a few percentage points if the game is tied.
However, with lively houses and Jacobs' ability to control the offence rather than hope for a Scottish mistake, the Canadians were content with their choice.
"When you hold the last rock in your hand and you maybe have a shot for the win, that's a much better feeling," Jacobs said.
Czechia's Lukas Klima upset Scotland in the evening draw with an 8-2 rout that lasted only seven ends.
Japan's Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi beat Austria's Mathias Genner 9-7, Norway's Magnus Ramsfjell edged Italy's Joel Retornaz 9-8, and China's Xiaoming Xu outscored Germany's Marc Muskatewitz 11-10.
After eight sessions, Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller, Norway, Scotland and China were tied in first place at 4-1.
Canada and Sweden's Niklas Edin were next at 3-1 and Czechia was in seventh place at 3-2.
Canada will have two-game days through Friday. The defending champion Swedes and Italy were up next on Tuesday.
The top six teams from the 13-team field will qualify for the weekend playoffs.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2025.
Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press
