Undefeated Epping, Gushue to clash in Meridian Canadian Open men’s final
YORKTON, Sask. — John Epping’s unbelievable epic shot in the eighth punched his Toronto team’s ticket to the Meridian Canadian Open men’s final.
Down by one with the hammer coming home, Epping pulled off an electric angle runback double for two points and the 6-5 win over Calgary’s Kevin Koe during Saturday’s semifinals at the Gallagher Centre.
Epping opted to go big for the win as he said he could have drawn for one to tie it and force an extra end, but he believed his chances of trying to steal from Koe were slim.
“Generally, our rule of thumb is if you have a chance to win the game you take that shot no matter how difficult it is,” an ecstatic Epping said. “Sometimes you just have to hit the rock in the right spot and you make it and the boys swept it the whole way. It was awesome.”
Team Epping has been on a surge over the past few weeks making the semifinals at the National and Canada Cup after struggling earlier in the season missing the playoffs at the season-opening Tour Challenge and the Masters. It is Epping’s first major final since winning the Players’ Championship in 2012 and his first with third Mat Camm, second Patrick Janssen, and lead Tim March.
“There’s a lot of momentum. We’re feeling good, we’re starting to mesh. You can just feel it and sense it. The boys are playing really well,” Epping said. “It takes a while for a team to come together. It’s only been a year and a half for Tim, Pat and I, and now Mat, so it takes some growing pains and I think they’re done. They’re gone now.”
Epping will Brad Gushue, of St. John’s, N.L. The defending champion Gushue took down Winnipeg’s Reid Carruthers 5-2 in a rematch of the National final.
Gushue broke a 1-1 tie with a three-ender in the fifth. The teams split singles in six and seven and Gushue ran Carruthers out of rocks in eight. Team Gushue has been cruising all season long. On top of their National title win last month the club has won a total six titles.
Both teams are undefeated at the Canadian Open after qualifying through the A-side of the triple knockout preliminary round. How will Epping take down the four-time Grand Slam men’s champion?
“Probably more shots like that,” Epping said with a smile. “Brad’s been having a phenomenal year. I think he’s one of the top skips in the world right now, if not the best skip right now. He’ll be on his game tomorrow and we’ll have to be on ours but we’ve been playing pretty well.”
Watch the Canadian Open women’s final between Ottawa’s Rachel Homan and Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones on Sunday at noon ET / 11 a.m. ET on Sportsnet followed by the men’s final at 3:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. CT.
