News Masters

TRURO, N.S. — Toronto’s Team John Epping has climbed to a 2-0 record at the Canadian Beef Masters.

Epping rallied late and secured a 7-6 victory in an extra end over Team Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., during Thursday’s early morning draw at Rath Eastlink Community Centre.

After the 2014 Olympic gold medallist Jacobs scored three in the fifth to take a 5-2 lead, Epping grabbed two in the sixth and stole a pair in the seventh to jump ahead by one. Team Jacobs (0-2) sat shot rock in the eighth but were unable to add their final shot to the count.

Jacobs drew to the button in the extra end but Epping pulled off an angle raise to knock it out with his last.

.@TeamJohnEpping hammer their final shot in the extra end to edge @TeamBradJacobs 7-6. #CanadianBeefMasters #GSOC #curling @LoveCDNbeef pic.twitter.com/bzlY3mCXFk

— Pinty's Grand Slam of Curling (@grandslamcurl) October 25, 2018

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Elsewhere, Calgary’s Team Kevin Koe clobbered Team Steffen Walstad of Norway 8-3 and Sweden’s Niklas Edin scored two in the seventh and stole one in the eighth during a 7-4 victory over Yannick Schwaller of Switzerland. Koe and Edin climbed to 2-0 records while Walstad and Schwaller both fell to 0-2.

In women’s play, Edmonton’s Team Laura Walker levelled their record to 1-1 clipping Team Satsuki Fujisawa of Japan 7-6. Fujisawa, the reigning Olympic bronze medallist, dropped to a 1-2 record.

The Canadian Beef Masters is the second event and first major of the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling season with 15 of the top men’s teams and 15 of the top women’s teams from around the world. Divisions are split into three pools for round-robin play during the week with the top eight overall qualifying for Saturday’s quarterfinals. The semifinals and finals are set for Sunday.

Round-robin action continues at 11:30 a.m. AT (10:30 a.m. ET) with broadcast coverage on Sportsnet and online at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare (global).

NOTES: Winners take home $30,000 of the $250,000 total purse plus berths to the season-ending Humpty’s Champions Cup in April. … Points are also on the line for the Pinty’s Cup, which is awarded to the overall season champions following the conclusion of the Players’ Championship.