After last year's triumph, the Swiss curlers win the European Championship title again. The team led by skip Silvana Tirinzoni defeated the Swedes 8:4 in the final in Lohja.
Selina Witschonke, Carole Howald, Silvana Tirinzoni and Alina Pätz laid the foundations for success early on with a deuce in the first end and a stolen stone in the second. They extended their lead to 5:1 at half-time and then defended their advantage with aplomb. The Swedes gave up after the ninth end.
It was the eighth gold medal overall for a Swiss women's team at the European Championships, putting Switzerland ahead of Germany in the medal table and in second place. Sweden clearly leads the statistics with 21 gold medals.
The Swiss women were dominant at the tournament in the south of Finland and remained undefeated. They already achieved this at last year's European Championships in Aberdeen (Scotland) and at the 2023 World Championships in Sandviken (Sweden) and 2022 in Prince George (Canada), back then with Melanie Barbezat and Esther Neuenschwander in the team. The Swiss women's run was only halted at this year's World Championships in Sydney (Canada), when they were beaten once by the Scots and twice by the Canadians. The second time in the final.
In any case, the yield since Tirinzoni and Pätz joined forces in 2018 is impressive. The team has won five medals each at the World and European Championships. Six gold, three silver and one bronze. Only the 2022 Olympic mission ended in disappointment. After a strong preliminary round with 8:1 victories, the Swiss women lost to Japan and Sweden in the final round and were left without a medal in Beijing.
After the European Championships, Team Tirinzoni now has various international tournaments on the agenda. The Women's World Championships will take place from March 15 to 23 in Uijeongbu, South Korea.
SDA
