Feuz and Hintermann feel good on the Olympic slope

Curling: Perret/Rios are defeated by gold contenders Canada

(sda) After their third loss in four games, Jenny Perret and Martin Rios will find it difficult to advance in Olympic mixed doubles curling.

The native of Seeland and the man from Glarus lost 5:7 to the favored Canadians Rachel Homan and John Morris on Friday night. If the tournament continues normally, they can only afford one defeat in the last five games of the round robin to reach the semi-finals. The remaining opponents also include the strong Swedes. The Swiss duo will play against them in the next game on Saturday.

After the first end, the Swiss had their backs to the wall in the match against Canada. Despite the advantage of the last stone, they conceded a three-way house. The 2018 silver medal winners couldn’t make up for this.

As in Pyeongchang, Canada and Morris proved too strong for the Swiss in Beijing. Four years ago, the 43-year-old won gold with Kaitlyn Lawes at the Olympic premiere of mixed doubles. In 2010, Morris also became Olympic champion in classic four-man curling in Skip Kevin Martin’s team.

Alpine skiing: Hintermann and Feuz feel at home on the Olympic slope

(sda) Niels Hintermann and Beat Feuz feel at home on the Olympia downhill slope. The man from Zurich and the man from Emmental took sixth and tenth place in the second practice session for Sunday’s race.

In contrast to the first training session on Thursday, which mostly turned into a better sight-seeing drive on the new route, the athletes approached the task in a more energetic manner, as expected. On Saturday there is one last opportunity to prepare for the race – provided that the external conditions allow it. The wind, which forced training to be postponed by an hour on Friday, could spoil the game again.

Hintermann and Feuz lost around half a second to the best time set by Norwegian Aleksander Kilde. Marco Odermatt did not fare so well. The Nidwaldner who started with the number 1 was 2.2 seconds behind. Stefan Rogentin, the fourth Swiss starter, was nine tenths behind. Justin Murisier, who is doing the training for next Thursday’s combination, was a little faster than the man from Graubünden.

Max Franz was closest to Kilde in terms of time. The Austrian fought in an internal qualification against Otmar Striedinger for the fourth and last starting place in the ÖSV team. Striedinger was almost a second slower than his teammate.

Football: Pelmard and Ndoye stay in Basel

(sda) FC Basel is redeeming the two purchase options for 21-year-old defensive player Andy Pelmard and offensive player Dan Ndoye, who is the same age. Pelmard signed until the summer of 2025, Ndoye even until the summer of 2026. The two players came on loan from Nice last summer and immediately gained a foothold.

Ice hockey: Swiss women are also subject to Team ROC

(sda) One day after the 1:12 defeat against Canada, the Swiss women’s national team also loses its second game in the Olympic tournament. Coach Colin Muller’s team is defeated by Team ROC 2:5.

Captain Lara Stalder on the power play (18th) and Alina Müller outnumbered (27th) equalized twice for the Swiss. The former had scored the only goal against Canada.

Just 15 seconds after the 1-1 draw, the Swiss fell behind again. They conceded the 2:5 (42nd) with a majority – it was Polina Bolgarewa’s third goal. In the 51st minute, Stalder failed alone in front of the Russian keeper Maria Sokorina. Overall, however, there was not enough from the Swiss.

The renewed defeat has no consequences, as all teams in group A are directly qualified for the quarter-finals. The Swiss are now enjoying a day off before the USA is their opponent on Sunday afternoon.

Football: Real Madrid are defeated by Athletic Bilbao in the quarter-finals

(sda) Real Madrid failed in the quarterfinals of the Spanish Cup. Los Blancos lost 1-0 away to Athletic Bilbao after a late goal from Alex Berenguer (89′). The Basques managed to get revenge for the lost Supercup three weeks ago in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which Real won 2-0.

Betis Sevilla, Rayo Vallecano and Valencia complete the semi-finals.

Nordic skiing: Prominent corona failures in Norway’s team

(sda/dpa) Simen Hegstad Krüger, Olympic champion in skiathlon in 2018, is not allowed to defend his title on Sunday because he tested positive for the corona virus in Europe before leaving. The Norwegian Ski Association announced the out. Krueger, who won two individual races this winter (both times over 15km skating), was among the contenders for the podium in skiathlon at Zhangjiakou, while his victory over that distance four years ago came as something of a minor surprise.

And Norway’s Nordic team has another corona failure to complain about: The gold favorite in the Nordic combined, Jarl Magnus Riiber, also tested positive for the virus, and it was detected in China. He has to go into quarantine. The first decision in the combination is on Wednesday, February 9th, with the individual. Riiber’s chances of participating in this start have fallen sharply. He has to submit two negative tests in order to be allowed to compete in the singles. The Norwegian already posted on Instagram: “The gold medal is yours, boys”.

The 24-year-old Riiber has dominated the combined in recent years and has won the overall World Cup since the 2018/19 season. Switzerland is not represented in Beijing in Nordic Combined.

Curling: The first win in the third game for Perret/Rios

(sda) In the third round robin game in mixed doubles curling, Jenny Perret and Martin Rios get their first win. The Seelander and Glarner win 8:7 against the favored British team.

On paper, the Scottish crew is one of the first contenders for Olympic victory. Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds and their teams of four became European champions in classic curling last November. After the defeats against China and Italy in the additional end, the first win for Perret/Rios, the 2018 Olympic silver medalists, was necessary.

Next, Perret / Rios meet Canada on Friday night (from 1:35 a.m. Swiss time).

Soccer: Kevin Rüegg moves to FC Lugano

(sda) Kevin Rüegg is returning to Switzerland, at least temporarily. The 23-year-old right-back is on loan from Hellas Verona to FC Lugano for the remainder of the season. The Ticino also got a purchase option in the negotiations with Hellas.

At his original club FC Zurich, Kevin Rüegg was a regular player and even – as in the U-21 national team – captain. After moving to Verona in the summer of 2020, he stayed on the bench in most games. In total, he only made seven appearances in Serie A, also due to various injuries.

Football: A Frenchman becomes the coach of Lausanne-Sport

(sda) 60-year-old Frenchman Alain Casanova is the new head coach of Lausanne-Sport. He succeeds the Serb Ilija Borenovic, who was released on Wednesday. Casanova has not coached a club since October 2019. On Thursday he led training for the first time with the Vaud team, which will contest the Léman derby against Servette in Geneva on Saturday from 6 p.m.

Casanova was once a goalie at Le Havre and Toulouse. In his coaching career, he only worked for two clubs, namely Toulouse (2008-2015 and 2018-2019) and Lens (2016-2017). Casanova earned a reputation as an expert in talent development. In Toulouse he produced, among others, Moussa Sissoko, Etienne Capoue, Wissam Ben Yedder and André-Pierre Gignac.

General: Holdener and Ambühl carry the Swiss flag at the Olympic opening ceremony

(sda) The Swiss delegation will be led into the stadium by Wendy Holdener and Andres Ambühl at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing on Friday. Swiss Olympic chose the ski racer and the ice hockey player to be the flag bearers.

For the second time there are mixed flag-bearer duos at the Olympics. With this, the International Olympic Committee wants to set an example for more gender equality.

Soccer: FCZ and Vasilije Janjicic, who has recovered from cancer, are terminating their contract

(sda) FC Zurich and Vasilije Janjicic are going their separate ways with immediate effect. As the Super League leader announced, the contract with the 23-year-old midfielder was terminated by mutual agreement.

After surviving cancer, Janjicic was only used sporadically for the FCZ second team in the Promotion League. The former Swiss U-21 international with Serbian roots played 12 games in the Super League for his home club.

Janjicic will continue his career with the Slovenian first division club NK Celje, with whom he has signed a contract that runs until the summer of 2024.