CurlingZone: Epping wins Stu Sells Toronto Tankard

Sudbury's John Epping rink (Photo: Team Epping) defeated Korea's Jeong Byeong-jin 8-4 to win the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard at the High Park Club in Toronto, Ontario.

By: Cameron Sallaj

John Epping and his new Northern Ontario based squad of Jacob Horgan, Tanner Horgan and Ian McMillan won their second tour event of the season this weekend with a dominant performance to capture the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard at the High Park Club.

Going undefeated through the event, Epping was looking to claim his second title at the event, having also won in 2020. In the final, his team took on Jeong Byeong-jin's Korean squad from Seoul.

Beginning with the hammer, the Northern Ontario rink was forced to one following a perfect draw on Jeong's final rock. In the second end, the Korean team put two on the board with another dominant end, taking early momentum.

In the third, however, it was Epping who took advantage of a miss from Jeong, making a runback to lie four on his first rock. Attempting a double, the Korean skip could only get rid of one Epping counter, allowing the Toronto native to draw to the paint for four and a nice 5-2 lead after three.

Another good end by the Ontario side in four forced Team Jeong to one. Then in the fifth, Epping avoided his own catchers to make a takeout for three points, lifting his team further ahead by an 8-3 margin.

After scoring one in the sixth, the Jeong rink conceded with Team Epping winning by a final score of 8-4.

Stu Sells Toronto Tankard - Final - John Epping vs Jeong Byeong-jin:

The win marked the Epping rinks second event title of the season. In September, the team also won the KW Fall Classic, going undefeated to claim that title as well. So far this season, the team is 19-5 and making the push towards Grand Slam qualification.

Taking home the first-place prize of $12,000 and 52.500 points, the team now moves into 23rd in the world, however, sits 7th on the Year-to-Date rankings. As the top ranked team out of Northern Ontario, the team will be looking ahead towards the 2025 Northern Ontario playdowns where they will attempt to qualify for the Montana's Brier in Kelowna, BC.

With a second-place finish, the Jeong rink earned $8,000 and 38.500 points. The team, which currently ranks second in Korea, had a disappointing finish at the Korean Championships, finishing fourth and failing to qualify as the national team.

Other playoff finishers in Toronto included B qualifiers Marco Hoesli (Glarus, SUI) and Magnus Ramsfjell (Trondheim, NOR) who both reached the semifinals, earning $5,000 and 29.750 points. Jonathan Beuk, Joel Retornaz, Shinya Abe and Alex Champ all qualified as well but lost in the quarterfinals, taking home $3,000 and 21.000 points.

Notably, Joel Retornaz' Italian squad, who moves up to second in the world, lost their first two games of the event before winning four straight sudden death games to reach the playoff round. They were eliminated by Ramsfjell in the quarterfinals, continuing their drought of failing to advance to a final this season.

Team John Epping finished 4-0 in the 32-team qualifying round at the Stu Sells Toronto Tankard. After opening with a 7-6 win over Evan van Amsterdam (Edmonton, AB), the team won 5-4 over Daniel Hocevar (Toronto, ON). They then beat Yves Stocker (Zug, SUI) 8-6 before defeating Owen Purcell (Halifax, NS) 8-3 in the A qualifier. Entering the playoffs as the top seed, Team Epping defeated Jonathan Beuk (Kingston, ON) 7-3 before downing Magnus Ramsfjell (Trondheim, NOR) 9-3 to reach the championship game.

Stu Sells Toronto Tankard - Semifinal - John Epping vs Magnus Ramsfjell:

Stu Sells Toronto Tankard - Quarterfinal - John Epping vs Jonathan Beuk:

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