Howard cruises past Epping and into Canadian Open semifinals
MEDICINE HAT, Alta. — Defending champion Glenn Howard of Penetanguishene, Ont., eased his way into the Canadian Open semifinals with a 6-3 win Saturday morning over Toronto’s John Epping.
Howard, who has won the past two Grand Slam of Curling men’s titles, snapped a 1-1 tie in the quarterfinal matchup with a three-ender in the fifth and stole one in the sixth to pull away. Epping took two in the seventh to cut the deficit in half and forced his opponent to have to throw his last in the eighth, but Howard made no mistake hitting to tack on another single and advance.
The 13-time Grand Slam champion Howard will take on the winner between No. 1 seed Kevin Koe of Calgary and Rob Rumfeldt of Guelph, Ont.
Rumfeldt hit and stuck around with his final shot of the extra end to eliminate Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen 7-6 in a tiebreaker to qualify for the playoffs.
Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton also advanced out of the tiebreakers scored two in an extra end for a 6-4 win over Peter de Cruz of Switzerland. Stoughton will play Toronto’s Mark Kean in the quarterfinals with the winner of that match meeting Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., in the semifinals. Gushue scored a clutch four points in the final frame to lift his team to a 7-4 victory over Edmonton’s Kevin Martin in their quarterfinal clash.
