Epping steals 4 to beat De Boer at Masters
ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — Toronto’s John Epping stole four points in the fifth end during a 6-3 win over Peter de Boer of New Zealand during Wednesday morning’s action at the Grand Slam of Curling’s Masters.
The teams exchanged singles back and forth during the first four ends until Epping pulled away with the four-spot steal. De Boer could manage to get only one point in the seventh.
The Masters is the first of four events on the 2013-14 Grand Slam of Curling schedule and serves as a preview for next year’s Winter Olympics featuring 15 of the top men’s teams and 15 of the top women’s teams from around the world.
Elsewhere in Draw 2, Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud stole two points in an extra end to top American Tyler George 7-5.
Sven Michel of Switzerland counted three-enders in the first and third to defeat Russia’s Andrey Drozdov 8-3.
In the women’s division, Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, Ont., doubled up on Latvia’s Evita Regza 6-3 and China’s Bingyu Wang scored six in the first during an 11-1 rout after five ends against Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa.
