Canadian Brad Jacobs won the Pancontinental Men’s Curling Championship with a 7-3 victory over John Shuster of the United States on Sunday in Virginia, Minnesota.
The Pan Continental is a regional qualifier for countries for next year’s world championship.
Jacobs, whose team won the bronze medal at the 2025 world championships in April, stole two points in the 10th end to secure the victory over Shuster, who advanced the United States to gold at the 2018 Olympics.
On Thursday, Jacobs, third Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant and lead Ben Hebert of Calgary’s Glencoe Club clinched a spot for Canada at next year’s world championships in Ogden City, Utah, with an 8-2 rout of Australia’s Hugh Millikin.
The Canadians went undefeated in Virginia and earned their country’s third gold medal in four years after Brad Gushue won in 2022 and 2023.
“We played tough teams here, especially the last two games,” Jacobs said. “It’s always great to put on the Maple Leaf, and it gives you a little more hunger and motivation to try to put it on again.”
Jacobs and company will next travel to California for the Kioti Grand Slam of Curling Tahoe beginning November 4.
They will be among eight men’s teams battling Nov. 22-30 in Halifax at the Montana Canadian Trials for the right to wear the Maple Leaf at February’s Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy.
Jacobs to defend Brier title in St. John’s
“Great crowd, great ice and I think it was a great simulation for the next Slam and the trials,” Jacobs said Sunday.
The quartet will also try to defend their Canadian title from Feb. 27 to March 8 at the Brier in St. John’s and earn a return trip to the world championship.
They saw the Continental Pan as another test against international competition.
“Any time you’re in a final it’s important to take advantage of those opportunities,” Gallant said.
“There’s something different about a final, a little bit more pressure and you want to test yourself to be able to perform in those circumstances. I thought today we played a really strong game against a really tough opponent and we know that hopefully we’ll be in that situation throughout this season.”
The fourth and final Pan-Continental Championships would conclude on Sunday with Canada’s Rachel Homan facing Rui Wang of China for gold.
Canada had already secured a place in the World Cup to be held from March 14 to 22 in Calgary as the host country.
World Curling introduced the Pan Continental four years ago to offer a North American and Asian counterpart to the European 50-over championship.
But the expansion of World Curling’s championship fields and the introduction of a B championship for promotions and relegations has brought an end to the Pan Continental event. The European Championship will continue as a stand-alone event.
