We now know the finalists on the men’s and women’s side of the 2021 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Joining the round robin winners of Tracy Fleury of Sudbury, Ontario, and Canadian Olympic gold medalist Brad Gushue of St. John’s, Newfoundland, are Canadian Olympic gold medalists Jennifer Jones and Brad Jacobs. Gushue won his gold medal for Canada at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, while Jones and Jacobs each won their gold medal for Canada at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. The winners of Sunday’s games will represent Canada at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.
On Saturday, Jacobs defeated Kevin Koe of Alberta in a convincing fashion by a score of 8-3. It was simply a dominant victory for Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. He picked up four points each in the third and fifth ends. One might be surprised thst the Koe team outcurled the Jacobs squad 96% to 94%. However in this situation, you have to ignore the percentages. Jacobs delivered with outstanding quality in his shot making in two ends in the game, by making two remarkable shots from in-offs which led to double takeouts.
On the women’s side, Jones of Winnipeg defeated Krista McCarville of Thunder Bay, Ontario 6-3 in the semifinal. It was a busy day in women’s curling as there were two tiebreakers. Earlier in the day, Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Manitoba beat Casey Scheiddeger of Lethbridge, Alberta 8-6, and then McCarville beat Einarson 4-3.
