Jacobs to play Carruthers in The National Grand Slam of Curling final

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. – Olympic champion Brad Jacobs advanced to the championship game at The National Grand Slam of Curling on Saturday night with a 5-3 semifinal victory over Brad Gushue.

Jacobs, the local favourite at the event, will face Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers in the final after he routed Niklas Edin of Sweden 7-0 in the other semi.

Jacobs scored three in the eighth end for the victory over Gushue of St. John’s, N.L. Gushue was playing his first event of the season after recovering from a hip injury.

Carruthers broke his game open with a deuce in the third end before adding another pair in the fifth against Edin. The two sides shook hands after the fifth end.

Winnipeg’s Kerri Einarson will face Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland in the women’s final, which is also set for Sunday afternoon.

Einarson put up four in the third end and held off a late rally from Binia Feltscher of Switzerland for a 9-6 victory.

Tirinzoni rallied for deuces in the seventh and eighth ends to slip past Krista McCarville of Thunder Bay, Ont., 6-5 in her semifinal.