YORKTON, Sask. — Toronto’s John Epping slid past Calgary’s Kevin Koe and into the playoffs of the Meridian Canadian Open.
Team Epping earned a 9-3 victory over the Canada Cup champions in the A-side finals during Draw 9 action at the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling event Thursday night.
Epping opened with a deuce in the first. Koe looked to match in the second as he attempted to ricochet his last rock to the button but he missed the mark and only counted one.
Koe fell into trouble in the third end as both his stones clipped guards and Epping capitalized to score five.
“We weren’t really looking for a deuce in the first end, the way it was going, but kind of a late miss by Kevin gave us a chance,” Epping said. “We had a good end going, of course they’re taking a couple more chances than they usually do and it just left me a pretty easy shot for the five.”
Epping was still on edge even with the six-point cushion as the five-rock rule could easily build a quarry of rocks in the house.
“You’re never safe with the five-rock rule,” he said. “That extra guard for the team with the hammer, you just never feel easy where maybe the four-rock you feel a little bit better out there but we got lucky.
“You just never feel like a lead is safe out there, which is fun for the spectators but nervous for us curlers.”
He continued to apply the pressure and swiped two more points in four when Koe missed a runback attempt that finally put Epping at ease.
“Another good end we played, good steal of two,” Epping said. “Yeah 9-1 you’re feeling pretty comfortable.”
It was a busy day for Team Epping as they also edged Team Mike McEwen 6-5 earlier in the day. They’ll now have a bit of a break with the quarterfinals not until Saturday afternoon and the skip is looking forward to it.
“It’s been a long couple weeks coming off of the Canada Cup so it’s actually going to be nice to have another couple days to just kind of take it easy,” Epping said. “We’ll probably go and throw a couple rocks at the local club. We’ll want to stay sharp as well because it’s a big, big weekend ahead.”
Team Koe will clash with reigning Olympic champions Team Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., in the B-side finals.
Meridian Canadian Open: Scores | Brackets & Schedules | TV Schedule
Elsewhere in the B-side, Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher broke out with an 8-1 victory over American John Shuster. Bottcher led 3-1 at the break and stole five in the fifth to ice the game early.
Bottcher will play Scotland’s David Murdoch in the B-side finals. Murdoch fell to defending Canadian Open champion Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., in the other A-final earlier Thursday.
Sweden’s Niklas Edin rode the Rush train (scoring 2-1-1-2 ends) during a 7-2 win against Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen. Edin trailed 2-1 through three and scored two in the fourth, stole one in the fifth, another point in six and swiped two in seven.
In the B-qualifier, Edin will meet Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers, who held off Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock 7-3. Carruthers led by one without the hammer coming home but secured the victory stealing three when Laycock attempted an angle raise but it rolled right through the scalene triangle of counters.
In the C-side, Jim Cotter, of Vernon, B.C., stayed in contention eliminating Glenn Howard, of Penetanguishene, Ont., 5-3. Cotter next plays McEwen.
NOTES: The Meridian Canadian Open is the fourth stop — and third major — on the 2015-16 Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season and runs through to Sunday. … The event features a triple knockout where teams must win three games before they lose three in order to qualify for the playoffs.
