Calgary Herald

Epping longs to wear Maple Leaf on his back

- TED WYMAN Twyman@postmedia.com Twitter.com/Ted_Wyman

When Anna Hasselborg ’s team from Sweden won the Grand Slam’s Masters of Curling on Sunday in Truro, N.S., third Sara McManus said it felt almost as good as winning the Olympics.

Toronto’s John Epping doesn’t have the frame of reference to go along with that statement. Epping won the men’s side of the Masters of Curling to improve upon an already solid Grand Slam resume, but at this point, he only wishes he could compare it to an Olympic medal.

“I can’t speak to that too much because I’ve never been in the Olympics,” Epping said Monday after taking the $30,000 top prize with a 7-4 win over Olympian Kevin Koe on Sunday.

“But these Grand Slams are the best fields, with the top 15 teams in the world, so to get through all those teams is a really big accomplish­ment. They’re special.”

Epping, 35, has been a top curler in Canada for the last decade and Sunday’s win gave him the career slam.

He also won the Players Championsh­ip in 2012 and the Canadian Open in 2015 as a skip, along with the National in 2008 as second for Wayne Middaugh.

Epping is proud of his accomplish­ment, but there’s been something missing in his career so far: the opportunit­y to wear the Maple Leaf on the world stage.

“That’s a lifelong dream,” Epping said. “When I was little, curling wasn’t in the Olympics and there were no Grand Slams. Everything was focused around the Brier, so I’ve always wanted to win a Brier and represent Canada at the world championsh­ips. That would just be a huge dream come true. Same to win the Olympic trials and go to the Olympic Games.”

 ??  ?? John Epping
John Epping
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada