Bounceback victory!

Canada comes out on top against defending champions at 2025 BKT World Men’s Championship

When it comes to statement wins, beating the defending world champions speaks volumes. That’s exactly what Canada’s Team Brad Jacobs delivered Tuesday morning at the 2025 BKT World Men’s Curling Championship, toppling Sweden’s Team Niklas Edin.

The victory was a welcome sight for Calgary’s Team Jacobs after suffering its first loss Monday in an extra end against Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat. That it came against Sweden — skipped by Edin, who is chasing a record-extending eighth world title — made it even sweeter.

A second straight loss, especially to another podium contender, would have put Canada in a tough position approaching the halfway point of the round robin. With only the top two teams earning direct byes to Saturday’s semifinals, every win matters.

“I think one of the best things about this team is when we lose games, we talk about why,” said Jacobs. “We had a really good discussion and debrief after the Scotland game to be able to come out today with the right energy and be in the right headspace. We’ve been resilient all season, so that’s a big win, beating Sweden. We were both three and one and keeping ourselves at one loss was a huge win for us.”

But that concern is now behind skip Jacobs, vice Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant, lead Ben Hebert, alternate Tyler Tardi, team coach Paul Webster and national coach Jeff Stoughton. The Canadians (4-1) edged Sweden (3-2) 8-6, vaulting into a five-way tie atop the standings with China’s Team Xiaoming Xu, Norway’s Team Magnus Ramsfjell, Scotland’s Team Mouat and Switzerland’s Team Yannick Schwaller.

Canada and Sweden traded points through the first three ends before Jacobs broke the game open in the fourth. Sitting two behind a centre guard, Edin attempted a runback double but missed, leaving both Canadian stones in scoring position. That set up Jacobs for a draw for three, giving Canada a three-point lead.

“The three-ender was huge,” said Jacobs. “I didn’t really expect us to get a three; maybe two. We had a really good opportunity when Niklas’s freeze sort of bounced and rolled edge on edge. If we threw a good stone, we could get low and force them into a ru back and we did. We got a break. They missed that one and we have an open draw for three and from there, we just controlled the board. We were able to score in the even ends of the board and control it right until the very end and get the win.”

From there, Sweden was forced into a series of high-risk shots in hopes of generating multiple points but was repeatedly limited to singles. In the fifth, Edin tried an angle run to score two but needed to thread a stone through a narrow port without disturbing a second Swedish counter. He couldn’t execute, settling for one. In the seventh, Sweden made a thin double takeout, but the shooter rolled out, again resulting in a single.

While Canada also played conservatively and scored only singles in the second half, it maintained control and dictated the pace. Sweden managed a deuce in the ninth with a double takeout, but Canada held hammer in the 10th and made no mistakes, scoring one to seal the win.

Canada returns to the ice later Tuesday against Italy’s Team Joel Retornaz (2-3) at 7 p.m. (all times Central Standard), looking to complete a two-win day.

Hebert feels optimistic his team will continue trending in the right direction.

“If we can get to five and one, that would be amazing and put us in a good spot,” said Hebert. “It’s such a long week, like it’s Tuesday. I feel like we have seven more games. It feels like this bonspiel is just kind of starting this morning. So we’re getting into our groove and playing really well. Brad’s got it dialled in pretty good and the ice is awesome, which is great. The crowd is behind us and really given us extra momentum, a little bit of energy out there, which is what we need. I like our chances tonight if we keep playing the way we’re playing.”

In other Tuesday morning games, Team Korey Dropkin of the United States (3-2) cruised to a 7-1 win over Austria’s Team Mathias Genner (0-6), while Japan’s Team Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi (2-4) earned a 6-4 victory against Team Lukas Klima of the Czech Republic (3-3).

The BKT World Men’s Curling Championship continues Tuesday with draws at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Live scoring, standings and statistics are available by CLICKING HERE.

TSN and RDS2 will provide complete coverage of the championship. CLICK HERE for the full broadcast schedule.

For ticket information, visit www.curling.ca/2025worldmen/tickets.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2025worldmen/nouvelles/?lang=fr.