- Switzerland’s World Cup dominance is over: In an exciting final, Silvana Tirinzoni and Co. lose to hosts Canada 5:7.
- Switzerland is in control of the game for 4 ends, but Canada takes control of the game after that.
- The Swiss have always prevailed at the last four World Championships.
The Swiss curlers’ incredible World Cup series came to an end on Sunday evening in Sydney (CAN). After four World Championship titles in a row, Skip Silvana Tirinzoni’s team lost 5:7 to the Canadians led by Rachel Homan in an exciting final. This means that for once the CC Aarau team “only” has to make do with the silver medal.
Alina Pätz decided not to play her last stone in the 10th end. The situation in the house seemed too hopeless. The Swiss would have had to score 2 stones to save themselves into the additional end. So the Canadians were allowed to cheer. They withstood the pressure in front of the expectant home fans and defeated the Swiss again after the round robin (8:5). At the same time, it is the first World Cup gold for Canada’s women since 2018.
Homan’s miracle stone brings the turning point
The game actually started very well for Switzerland. While Tirinzoni and Co. were able to write a house of two in the 2nd and 4th ends, Canada had to be content with one stone each in the 1st and 3rd ends. But in the 5th end, Pätz’s last attempt didn’t go as planned, so Canada was able to equalize 4:4.
As the game progressed, the Swiss no longer appeared quite as confident, while Canada really turned up the heat. The ultimately decisive 9th end was representative of this: a missed stone from Tirinzoni put Switzerland in a difficult situation, which Pätz was subsequently unable to rectify.
Canada skip Homan reaped maximum rewards from this situation with her last stone: With a fantastic last attempt, she brought 2 of her own stones into the house, scored 3 points and turned a 4:5 into a 7:5. In the end, the Swiss played too imprecisely to put pressure on them again.
Still a very strong Swiss tournament
Even though Tirinzoni, Pätz, Carole Howald and Selina Witschonke were denied the final coup, the quartet can still look back on a strong tournament. Despite two (unusual) defeats in the round robin, the team qualified directly for the semi-finals and defeated Italy thanks to a convincing performance. Seen across the entire tournament, the 2023 European champions achieved excellent results.