Jacobs atop crowded men’s standings at Canadian curling trials entering final draw

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Calgary’s Brad Jacobs has surged ahead of the pack in the race for a bye to the men’s final at the Canadian curling trials in Halifax.

Jacobs (5-1) moved into sole possession of top spot in the men’s standings with one draw to go after a 6-2 win over Winnipeg’s Matt Dunstone in Wednesday’s morning action.

Jacobs put the game away with a steal of two in the 10th end.

Dunstone fell into a tie for second at 4-2 with Saskatoon’s Mike McEwen and Brad Gushue of St. John’s. McEwen defeated Gushue 9-7 Wednesday morning.

Jacobs, the 2014 Olympic champion, was set to face Gushue, the 2006 gold medallist and reigning bronze medallist, in a key game in the final round-robin draw Wednesday evening.

The winner of the men’s and women’s competitions get a bye directly to their respective best-of-three final, while the second- and third-ranked teams face off in a knockout semifinal.

The tournament winners will represent Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina, Italy.

In other early results, Toronto’s John Epping defeated Calgary’s Kevin Koe 8-4 and Winnipeg’s Jordon McDonald edged Saskatoon’s Ryan Kleiter 7-6.

Koe was at 3-3 entering the final draw, with Epping at 2-4 and McDonald and Kleiter at 1-5.

The final women’s draw was scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET, with elite skips Kerri Einarson of Gimli, Man., and Rachel Homan of Ottawa set to face off with the top seed on the line.

WATCH | CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux previews Canadian Olympic curling trials:

Olympic spots are on the line at the 2025 Canadian Curling Trials in Halifax

CBC Sports’ Devin Heroux previews the upcoming 2025 Canadian Curling Trials from Halifax.