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The Swiss curlers led by Skip Silvana Tirinzoni qualified directly for the semi-finals at the World Championships in Canada.
Legend:
Can plan for the semi-finals
Skip Silvana Tirinzoni and her team.
Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP
The Swiss women qualified directly for the semi-finals at the World Cup in Sydney, Canada. Skip Silvana Tirinzoni’s team won the last round-robin duel against Sweden 4-2. As second in the group behind Canada, the four-time world champions can avoid the quarter-finals.
In the semi-finals late on Saturday evening, one of the winners of the two quarter-finals will be the opponent. The direct qualification for the semi-finals also means that the Swiss women will not have to deal with the previously undefeated Canadians led by Skip Rachel Homan before the final.
Strong balance sheet for the Swiss
Carole Howald, Selina Witschonke, Skip Silvana Tirinzoni and Alina Pätz from CC Aarau won the last two round robin games against top teams: 6:2 against Italy, then 4:2 against Sweden. They finished the round robin with an excellent record of 10:2 wins. Thanks to second place in the round robin, they will be able to start the semi-finals with the advantage of the last stone, which should not be underestimated.
Both in the game against the Italians led by Stefania Constantini and in the match against their arch-rivals from Sweden (skip Anna Hasselborg), the Swiss were characterized by a lot of patience and a confident defensive game. That’s why the low scores came about with a total of only 14 counting stones.
In the game against the Swedes, the Swiss gained a 3-1 lead by the break, which proved to be decisive. However, it was a very thin affair that led to this interim result in the 5th end. The last stone of Hasselborg came to rest a few millimeters too far away.
Decision against Italy in the 9th end
Against the strong Italians, Tirinzoni, Pätz, Witschonke and Howald had led 3-0 after 4 ends, but had to let their opponents close to 2-3 straight away. After two zero ends, Switzerland increased to 4:2 in the 8th end. As a result, Italy could not withstand the pressure. After a missing stone from Constantini and 2 stolen stones for Tirinzoni and Co., the southern Europeans gave up.