Jacobs scores in final end to down Koe 5-4, capture first Canada Cup

The 2014 Olympic gold medallist kept the hammer in the final end and made a final rock hit to seal the victory.

Koe was behind 4-2 after the seventh before scoring one in the eighth and stealing one in the ninth to tie the game at 4-4.

Jacobs never trailed in the match.

“Our hitting and drawing have been really good this week … with five-rock (rule) there are still ways you can keep it relatively open and I think we did a very good job of that,” said Jacobs.

“We just controlled the scoreboard. I think we outplayed them tonight up and down the lineup, didn’t give them too many opportunities to score the deuce back. I think we played a nice defensive style curling game.”

Koe had a chance to match Jacobs’ first-end deuce in the fifth when he had a draw for two, but the throw didn’t count because of a time violation.

“I know the officials are here trying their best, but I think they just did a really poor job there,” said Koe, a two-time world champion (2010, 2016).

“We took a timeout and they told us we had 11 seconds and they didn’t correct the clock. I know I missed my shot and we could have communicated better … even if I throw it good, we don’t get it. That’s not why we lost the game.”

A new timing system, which alotts four minutes per end in the first five and 4:15 in the last five, was being tested at the tournament as a possible replacement for the 38-minute game time. It will not be used at this year’s Scotties Tournament of Hearts, the Brier or the World Men’s Curling Championship, and the final decision rests in the hands of the World Curling Federation.

Jacobs’ rink will take home $14,000 for the victory, plus $10,000 for its five round-robin victories. Team Koe gets $9,000 for finishing second and $8,000 for its four preliminary-round wins.

Earlier Sunday, Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones beat Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., 8-5 to win her record fourth women’s title at the tournament.

The 44-year-old skip calmly executed a long runback double takeout to score three in the ninth end.

Jones said there was no question the risky shot was worth it.

“It was just the way the score was,” she said. “Trying to hold them to not get two in the last end is challenging, so we thought it was worth the risk.

“I like throwing that shot, it looked good out of my hand and I knew it was going to be close. I just wasn’t sure we would stick the shooter and it stuck around.”

Jones and her team earned $14,000 for winning the final, plus $6,000 for their four round-robin wins. They also earn a bye into the 2021 Road to the Roar Pre-Trials and qualify for a World Curling Federation World Cup event during the 2019-20 season.

Jones was competing in her record-tying 10th appearance in the Canada Cup. She also won the event in 2007, 2011 and 2016.

Einarson took home $9,000 for finishing second plus $9,000 for their six round-robin victories.

Einarson, who finished first in the round robin and had a bye into the final, had a chance for two in the first end but missed on a double-takeout attempt and settled for one. Jones missed a chance for three in the second, also narrowly missing a double-takeout try, but got two.

The teams traded deuces in the fourth and fifth ends, Jones got one in sixth and Einarson scored singles in the seventh and eighth.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Jacobs scores in final end to down Koe 5-4, capture first Canada Cup

Pro Tips