Epping earns crucial win over Jacobs at Players’ Championship
TORONTO — John Epping kept his title defence on home ice alive earning his first win of the Players’ Championship with a 6-2 decision over Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., during Thursday night’s action at Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre.
Epping, who upset the field last year as the lowest-ranked seed, opened the season-ending Grand Slam of Curling tournament this time with two losses and needed the victory to remain in the playoff hunt.
The hometown hero Epping came out strong in the first half scoring deuces in the first and third ends while holding the reigning Brier champion and world silver medallist Jacobs to just a single in the second. After Jacobs (1-1) was held to another lone point in five, Epping added another two-count in the sixth and the teams shook hands early.
Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen (2-0) took two in the seventh to win 6-4 over Brad Gushue (1-2) of St. John’s, N.L.
Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton topped reigning world champion Niklas Edin of Sweden 6-4 to earn his first win of the tournament. Stoughton (1-1) won the National Grand Slam of Curling title earlier this year. Edin now sits at 1-2.
Elsewhere, Edmonton’s Kevin Martin earned a 6-4 victory over Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock to get back in the win column and Jim Cotter of Vernon, B.C., scored a single in the final frame to beat Joe Frans of Bradford, Ont., 5-4. Both Martin and Cotter improved to 2-1 records while Laycock and Frans dropped to 1-2.
The Players’ Championship is the fourth and final stop of the 2012-13 Grand Slam of Curling season featuring 15 of the top men’s teams and 15 of the top women’s teams from around the world. Both divisions are split up into three pools of five teams for round-robin play with the top eight overall qualifying for Saturday’s quarterfinals.
