Jacobs Wins Second Game, Homan Rebounds at Pan Continental

Summary:

• Brad Jacobs scored his second straight win at Pan Continental, defeating the Philippines 10–3.
• Rachel Homan split her Tuesday games, losing to Japan before beating New Zealand.
• Both teams are using the Pan Continental as key preparation for upcoming world and Olympic events.

Brad Jacobs and Rachel Homan’s run at the Pan Continental Curling Championship in Minnesota, US, has been marked by positive results on Tuesday.

Jacobs continued his strong start at the championship that began on October 19 with a second straight win courtesy of a 10–3 victory against the Philippines’ Marc Pfister.

On the women’s side, defending champion Rachel Homan who remain unbeaten last year had a mixed day. After her early 11–5 defeat to Japan, she managed to bounce back with a crushing 10–2 win over New Zealand during the evening draw.

Getting Ready for the World Championships

The competition hosted by the Iron Trail Motors Event Center (A Division) and Curl Mesabi (B Division) in Virginia and Eveleth will be used as a qualifier for next year’s world championships. 

Canada’s women can breathe easily, as their spot is guaranteed since the country will host the March event in Calgary. 

They will be joined by the top five squads from the A Division, taking the total number of teams from the Pan-Continental zone to advance to the world event to six for the first time in history. 

For the men, the top four finishers here will advance to next year’s world championship in Ogden City, Utah, joining the host United States.

Jacobs: “I Would Give Player-of-the-Game to Ben.”

Jacobs opened the tournament Monday with a 10–4 win over China’s Xiaoming Xu, a rematch of their bronze-medal game at April’s world championship in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. 

Against the Philippines, Jacobs and his Calgary-based team of Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant, and Ben Hebert took control early and never looked back.

From lead to skip, we played quite well. Benny was setting the ends up beautifully and that always makes it a lot easier from that point on. So I think I would give player-of-the-game to Ben.

Jacobs’ team sees this event as valuable preparation for the upcoming Olympic trials in Halifax from November 22–30. The eight men’s teams competing there will fight for the chance to represent Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Having led Canada to Olympic gold in 2014, Jacobs is now in his second season with his current lineup. The team has been working closely with sport psychologist Jason Boivin from Ottawa to refine their communication and mental approach.

Jacobs’ next tests come on Wednesday against South Korea’s Soo-Hyuk Kim and New Zealand’s Sean Becker.

As for Homan, she’ll look to build on her evening win after a demanding few days. Her team had little rest following their Co-op Tour Challenge Grand Slam victory Sunday in Nisku, Alberta.