Brad Jacobs opens Masters Grand Slam with back-to-back wins
Tracy Fleury beats Val Sweeting on women's side
Brad Jacobs toppled Glen Howard 4-3 in Draw 5 action Wednesday night at the Masters Grand Slam of Curling in Okotoks, Alta., for his second victory of the day.
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Jacobs, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., needed an extra end to beat Howard after the native of Penetanguishene, Ont., scored a deuce in the eighth to tie it 3-3.
The two skips traded singles in the first two ends and were even 1-1 until the sixth when Jacobs scored a pair to go ahead 3-1.
Jacobs (2-0) also defeated Sweden's Niklas Edin (0-1) 4-2 earlier in the day and is tied with Saskatoon's Steve Laycock (2-0) atop the men's standings.
Also, Calgary's Kevin Koe evened his record with a 7-3 victory over American John Shuster (0-2). Koe (1-1) needed just seven ends to take the win.
Earlier, Mark Nichols (1-0) of St. John's, N.L., led Brad Gushue's rink to a 9-4 win over Edmonton's Brendan Bottcher (0-1). Nichols is leading the team while Gushue recovers from a hip injury.
On the women's side, Tracy Fleury's steal of three in the third end set her up for a decisive 7-4 win over 2014 champion Val Sweeting.
Fleury's rink from Sudbury, Ont., opened up a 3-1 lead after scoring three with the hammer in the second end, then followed with the decisive steal in the third.
Fleury improved to 1-0, while Edmonton's Sweeting is 0-2 after dropping her evening draw 6-5 against Sweden's Anna Hasselborg (2-0).
Elsewhere, defending champion Rachel Homan (2-0) of Ottawa won her first match, 5-3 over Switzerland's Alina Paetz (0-2) and her second 7-6 over Edmonton's Kelsey Roque (1-1). Winnipeg's Jennifer Jones (1-1) bounced back from a morning loss against Allison Flaxley (1-0) of Caledon, Ont., with a 9-7 win over Russia's Anna Sidorova.
Niklas Edin (0-1) 4-2.