MOOSE JAW, Sask. — After a triumphant run to a Montana's Brier title earlier this month, Brad Jacobs and his Canadian teammates picked up where they left off Saturday at the BKT World Men's Curling Championship.
Jacobs and his Calgary-based team defeated Japan's Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi 7-3 in the round-robin opener before posting a 7-5 win over Germany's Marc Muskatewitz in the evening.
"A great day, I couldn't ask for more," Jacobs said. "We beat two good teams today."
The host side opened with hammer in the afternoon matchup and blanked the first three ends as players got used to the ice in the 4,200-seat Temple Gardens Centre venue.
Jacobs sunk a stone under a pair of guards in the fourth end to open the scoring with a deuce. Canada kept the pressure on in the fifth by forcing Japanese fourth Riku Yanagisawa to draw for one through a port against three counters.
The Canadian foursome of Jacobs, Ben Hebert, Marc Kennedy and Brett Gallant pulled away with three points in the sixth end. Yanagisawa missed a double-takeout and Jacobs made the open draw.
"Awesome job by the guys," Jacobs said. "They played great in front of me. We settled in nicely. We got a deuce and a force and a three.
"We were gripping the broom a little less tight from that point on, which was good."
In other early games, American Korey Dropkin edged Italy's Joel Retornaz 7-6, Switzerland's Yannick Schwaller topped Norway's Magnus Ramsfjell 7-4, and Czechia's Lukas Klima beat South Korea's Hyojun Kim 6-5.
Muskatewitz, the reigning European champion, provided a stiffer test in the late draw.
The teams exchanged early singles before Jacobs scored a deuce in the fourth end. Canada appeared to be on its way to a comfortable victory after adding a pair in the sixth and stealing a point in the seventh.
But after an eighth-end blank, Germany took advantage of a Canadian error in the ninth. Jacobs rubbed a guard with his final throw and Muskatewitz made a split for three — confirmed on a measure — to cut Canada's lead to 6-5.
In the 10th end, Jacobs was forced to make a delicate tap into the four-foot ring for the win.
"A little sloppy by me in nine, I missed one and let them back in it," he said. "But a great way to finish the game and having to make a nice shot to win.
"Hopefully we have a lot of those opportunities this week."
Round-robin play continues through Friday. The top six teams in the 13-team field will reach the weekend playoffs.
Gallant was on the last Canadian team to win this event, taking gold eight years ago in Edmonton on a squad skipped by Brad Gushue.
Hebert and Kennedy won world titles with Kevin Martin (2008) and Kevin Koe (2016) while Jacobs settled for silver in his lone appearance in 2013. The Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.-based skip took Olympic gold at the Sochi Games the following year.
"There's four great throwers and they have a lot of experience," said Japanese coach Bob Ursel. "It's one of many tough teams here this week."
Top-ranked Bruce Mouat of Scotland and seven-time champion Niklas Edin of Sweden are among the headliners at the nine-day competition.
Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Austria's Mathias Genner while Edin dropped a 9-5 decision to China's Xiaoming Xu. Italy bounced back with a 9-2 victory over South Korea.
Edin beat Gushue in last year's final in Schaffhausen, Switzerland while Mouat topped the St. John's skip in the 2023 final in Ottawa.
This event will determine most of the countries that will compete at the 2026 Milan Olympics.
Combined results from the 2024 and '25 worlds will determine seven entries that will join host Italy. A last-chance qualifier for the final two Olympic berths will be held in December in Kelowna, B.C.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2025.
Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press
