In the blink of an eye, Team Northern Ontario, which consists of Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs and his team from the Community First Curling Centre, is back in the mix at the 2020 Tim Hortons Brier in Kingston, Ont.
After dropping to 1-3 on Monday night with a loss to Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brad Gushue, the Jacobs rink rebounded with a pair of wins on Tuesday to move to 3-3.
The Jacobs rink, which includes third Marc Kennedy, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden, and alternate Lee Toner picked up wins over Quebec’s Alek Bedard and Jamie Murphy of Nova Scotia.
Jacobs called the win over Bedard “a great performance” in an interview posted on the Curling Canada website.
With the hammer to start, Jacobs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening end.
After Bedard blanked the second and scored one in the third to get on the board, Jacobs took over.
The Jacobs rink increased the lead with a pair in the fourth to go up 4-1 then picked up steals of one each in the fifth and sixth ends before stealing three in the seventh to go up 9-1.
Bedard capped off the scoring with a single in the eighth end.
Jacobs spoke of the start to the tournament being interesting as the northern Ontario rink sat with a 1-3 record entering Tuesday despite playing well.
“It was kind of a funny start for us,” Jacobs said. “Things just didn’t go our way. We didn’t play poorly and we’re not throwing the rock poorly. We’re throwing the rock very well and we’re just on the wrong side of the inch.”
“A little bit of adversity early on in events is never a bad thing,” Jacobs also said. “We’re been a pretty resilient team all year and we welcome that.”
In the evening draw, the Jacobs rink beat Murphy 6-2.
After blanking the opening end, Jacobs got on the board in the second end with a pair and, after Murphy blanked the third and scored a single in the fourth, added to the lead with two more in the fifth end.
Murphy scored one in the seventh end before Jacobs sealed the win with two in the ninth end.
“Our life was on the line and we put together a really good day,” Kennedy said in an interview with Curling Canada. “We didn’t have a lot of panic. We just came out and did our thing and played really well both games.”
Heading into the final day of round robin action on Wednesday, the Jacobs rink will face Nunavut’s Jake Higgs.
Round robin action in the nine-day event wraps up on Wednesday night.
Following action on Wednesday, the top four teams in each of the eight-team pools will move on to the Championship Pool, which begins on Thursday afternoon and will see the eight teams carry over their records from round robin action.
Following two days of Championship Pool action, the top four teams will move on to the playoff round, which begins with Page Playoff action on Saturday afternoon.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
