Jacobs, Mouat clinch quarterfinal spots at Grand Slam of Curling opener

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CHARLOTTETOWN — Brad Jacobs and Bruce Mouat became the first teams to clinch quarterfinal berths at the HearingLife Tour Challenge curling tournament with wins in Thursday’s third draw.

Jacobs and his Calgary foursome posted a 7-5 win over Winnipeg’s Matt Dunstone while Mouat’s rink from Scotland defeated reigning men’s world champion Niklas Edin of Sweden 5-4.

Jacobs and Mouat both improved to 3-0 at the triple elimination event, which is kicking off the Grand Slam of Curling season.

Edin will next face Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller on Friday, while Dunstone meets Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen. The winner of those matches will advance. Dunstone beat McEwen 6-5 on the opening day of competition.

In other results from Thursday’s third draw, John Shuster eliminated fellow American Korey Dropkin with an 8-3 win, and Scotland’s Cameron Bryce ended Reid Carruthers’ tournament with a 6-2 win over the Winnipeg skip.

In earlier men’s action, Schwaller defeated fellow Swiss skip Michael Brunner 5-2, Calgary’s Kevin Koe downed Canadian men’s champion Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., 7-4, Scotland’s Ross Whyte beat Italy’s Joel Retornaz 6-4 and McEwen downed Scotland’s James Craik 7-2.

Koe will face Whyte for a quarterfinal berth on Friday. Gushue will face Bryce and Retornaz will meet Shuster, with the winners staying alive and the losers going home.

In women’s action earlier Thursday, Xenia Schwaller defeated Silvana Tirinzoni 9-5 in an all-Swiss matchup, Ottawa’s Rachel Homan thumped Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa 9-1, Isabella Wrana of Sweden beat South Korea’s Kim Eun-Jung 6-4 and Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., downed Sweden’s Anna Hasselborg 7-1.

Homan and Schwaller will play for a quarterfinal berth on Friday, while Einarson and Wrana will also look to advance against opponents to be determined in Thursday’s evening draw.

The day’s final draw consisted of two direct entries into the women’s quarterfinals.

Italy’s Stefania Constantini topped Tabitha Peterson of the United States 7-6, scoring the winning single in the eighth and final end to earn an entry. South Korea’s Gim Eun-Ji defeated Winnipeg’s Kaitlyn Lawes 7-4 to grab the other entry.

In the other two games, Winnipeg’s Chelsea Carey cruised past Delaney Strouse of the U.S. 10-1, while Scotland’s Rebecca Morrison squeezed past Edmonton’s Selena Sturmay 4-3.