John Epping fist-pumps upon victorySUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. – John Epping of Toronto scored the winning point on his last shot to defeat Glenn Howard of Coldwater, Ont. in the men's final of the 2012 Sun Life Financial Players' Championship at Credit Union Place.
Epping's squad from the Donalda Club scored three in the second end for a 3-1 lead, and looked good for a critical deuce in the sixth end until Epping's last stone caught a piece of debris, scoring only one for a 6-4 lead.
Howard's Brier and world championship foursome managed a deuce in the seventh end for a 6-6 tie but Epping faced only a draw to the full eight-foot rings on his last throw, and made it perfectly.
Epping's unexpected run to victory saw him beat Howard earlier in the round-robin, and he also eliminated Edmonton's Kevin Martin in the semifinal by scoring three in the seventh end and then stealing the eighth.
Epping's team of Scott Bailey, David Mathers and Howard's son Scott Howard cashed $28,000 for the win and another $10,000 for finishing third in the Capital One Cup race, which celebrates Grand Slam prowess.
"It's a dream, this is something you dream of as a kid," said the 29-year-old Epping. "When you look at the event, I don't think anyone could pick us to win this, and probably a lot of people didn't pick us to make the playoffs. "But we've had a good season, we worked hard. We had a bit of a slump, a couple weeks where we didn't play so well, but the boys were so resilient, they came back. What a way to finish the year. We get go out on such a high and the expectations are going to be probably higher next year and that's what it's all about."
Despite the loss, worth $32,000, Howard was still a big winner in Summerside. Earlier in the final Grand Slam event of the season he clinched the Capital One Cup's $50,000 men's top prize as well as the 2011-12 Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) points crown, which gives his team a direct berth into the 2013 Canadian Olympic trials.
There's that coach! Horning in again!"To win a couple of Grand Slams, the provincial, Brier, worlds, Capital One cup, trials spot, you always have all those goals in mind, but you never think you would get them all so I couldn't be happier," said Howard, who is back at work at his Beer Store management job on Tuesday morning. "Obviously we came up a little short here but John outplayed us, and we had a few misses we shouldn't have and lo-and-behold, they pulled it off and congratulations to them. They had a great week."
Saturday's Sun Life women's final saw Saskatoon's Stefanie Lawton defeat Cathy Overton-Clapham of Winnipeg 7-2 to win the $28,000 top prize and a total $53,000 cash haul. Overton-Clapham's silver finish was good enough to clinch the women's Capital One Cup title, and she cashed a total of $74,000 for the week.
Edmonton's Heather Nedohin missed the playoffs but still clinched the CTRS women's title, and a berth into the 2013 Canadian Olympic trials.
Other top money winners included semifinalists Martin ($41,000), Jennifer Jones and Mike McEwen of Winnipeg ($27,000 each) and Sherry Middaugh of Coldwater, Ont. ($15,000).
At the fourth-end break of Sunday's men's final, Beth Tetreault of Thessalon, Ont. threw a single stone in an attempt to win CDN $1 million. Tetreault was the finalist in the fourth annual Capital One Million Dollar Button contest after emerging from a pool of qualifiers on Saturday.
Tetrault's stone failed to reach the target, and she was consoled with a $5,000 prize. The six contest semi-finalists were Tegan Stride of Bedeque, PEI, Bill McCormick of Kingston, Ont., Shannon Anderson of Dawson Creek, BC, and online contest entrants Michael Laird and Emilia Borrrelli of Edmonton and Dan Robichaud of Saint John, NB.
The Capital One Million Dollar Button is Canada's first-ever million dollar curling contest – and if curling fans are lucky, it will be returning for a fifth season this coming fall. Full contest details are available at:milliondollarbutton.ca.
Capital One photos copyright by Anil Mungal – click on images to increase viewing size