sa国际传媒鈥檚 confidence is booming and the opposition is paying a heavy price after eight draws of the 2013 Ford World Men鈥檚 Curling Championship.
A poised and possessed Brad Jacobs rink added its fourth and fifth wins of the event on Monday at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, picking apart Switzerland鈥檚 Sven Michel 7-2 in eight ends in the afternoon.
Jacobs, third Ryan Fry, second E.J. Harnden and lead Ryan Harnden then ripped through Brady Clark鈥檚 American side 7-2 in just six ends in the nightcap to remain the only unbeaten team at the event at 5-0.
The Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., rink has now won 11 straight dating back to the Brier. The last defeat was a 7-6 loss in extra ends to Brock Virtue of Saskatchewan. sa国际传媒 is exuding confidence and unafraid to attempt any difficult shot and they鈥檙e making it look easy.
鈥淚t鈥檚 fun to be on this team right now, especially when those shots are being made. It鈥檚 hard for me to not smile. But we have a job to do and so far, so good,鈥� admitted Jacobs.
鈥淩ight now, because we鈥檙e playing so well and we鈥檙e playing with confidence, it feels easy and it鈥檚 a lot of fun,鈥� he added. 鈥淲e are trying a little riskier shots. ... If you鈥檙e not playing with confidence, you鈥檙e not trying some of the shots we鈥檙e trying.鈥�
There have been endless run-backs made, which have delighted the pro-sa国际传媒 crowd. The perfect example came early against Michel.
鈥淭hat one we made [in the fourth end], the angle-tick double; that was a pretty risky shot and we almost hit it too thin and missed everything, but it worked out well,鈥� said Jacobs. 鈥淓ven with the long run-back double peels, you have to hit close to nose and hope to roll. We鈥檙e calling those right now because we know we can make them.鈥�
Which is demoralizing for opponents.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really difficult,鈥� admitted Michel. 鈥淎fter they took the lead they made everything and we had some really difficult shots. They played really well and we had no chance at the end.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really impressive. We knew that beforehand that they can play that well. The rocks have to be in perfect spots and if they鈥檙e not, they will kill them and that was the case.鈥�
E.J. Harnden was masterful in the afternoon curling 94 per cent and brother Ryan was right behind at 91.
The team, as a whole, is on a spectacular run and is feeding off the appreciative Victoria crowd.
鈥淲e were cast in the spotlight when we were in those three [playoff] games at the Brier and I think that prepared us quite a bit for this,鈥� said Fry. 鈥淚 think, if anything, we鈥檙e accepting being at home and we鈥檙e loving it as opposed to putting added pressure on ourselves.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like a fifth or sixth man and it鈥檚 fun playing in it. We鈥檙e loving it.鈥�
sa国际传媒 faces the Czech Republic鈥檚 Jiri Snitil at 9 a.m. today and Norway鈥檚 Thomas Ulsrud at 7 p.m.
Ulsrud lost a shocker 7-5 to Denmark鈥檚 Rasmus Sjerne in extra ends in the night draw, while Scotland鈥檚 David Murdoch downed Michel 8-5 and Finland鈥檚 Aku Kauste earned his first win 6-4 over Japan鈥檚 Yusuke Morozumi.
Scotland joined Sweden鈥檚 Niklas Edin and China鈥檚 Rui Liu at 4-1 as all three 鈥� like sa国际传媒 鈥� enjoyed two-win days. Norway and Denmark are both 3-2.
