Epping defeats Olympic gold medallist — twice in one day at Grand Slam of Curling
Peterborough native John Epping crushed 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics gold medallist John Shuster twice on Friday to squeak into the playoffs at the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling players’ championship at the Mattamy Athletic Complex in Toronto.
Ontario Tankard champion Epping defeated Shuster, of Duluth, Minn., 8-2 in six ends in round robin play Friday afternoon to move into a tie for third at 2-3 with Shuster in Pool B of the 12-team men’s competition.
As a result, Epping and Shuster were rematched in a tiebreaker on Friday night.
Epping, the Ontario Tankard champion who finished third at the Tim Hortons Brier national men’s championship, then beat Shuster 6-3 in seven ends.
Epping advanced to face Calgary’s Kevin Koe, the Canadian Olympic rep who was unbeaten at the tournament, in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Koe edged Epping 5-4 to eliminate Epping.
Koe went on to win the players’ championship with a 6-2 win over Niklas Edin in Sunday’s championship final.
Epping, who lives in Toronto, curls out of the Leaside Curling Club in Toronto with third Mathew Camm, second Patrick Janssen and lead Tim March.
Janssen and March are leaving Epping’s team at the end of the season after four years together as Canada’s top curling teams reload for the next four-year push to the Olympic trials.