Another week, another tour title for Yannick Schwaller.
Schwaller and his Swiss squad have opened their season with back-to-back wins, taking the Euro Super Series men's title in Stirling, Scotland, with an 8-2 victory in only five ends over Team Grant Hardie during Sunday's final.
The team of Schwaller, Benoît Schwarz-van Berkel, Sven Michel and Pablo Lachat-Couchepin posted a perfect 6-0 record in the event. After earning four straight wins through round-robin play to secure a bye to the semis, Schwaller defeated Team Orrin Carson 7-6 to book a spot in the final.
It was the first event for Hardie since leaving Team Bruce Mouat during the off-season to skip and throw third stones alongside Ross Whyte, Craig Waddell and Euan Kyle. Hardie also went 4-0 through the preliminary stage to earn a bye and defeated Team Stefano Spiller 7-5 in the semifinals.
Team Schwaller capitalized early in the final. Just when it looked like the force was on in the first, Whyte wrecked on a guard, allowing Schwarz-van Berkel to make an open hit to score three points off the bat.
Following back-to-back singles, Whyte added another point the hard way in the fourth. Whyte went for an angle raise takeout, looking for a potential deuce, but his raised rock rolled out as well, scoring only one.
It was handshakes early as Whyte missed a double in the fifth end, giving Schwarz-van Berkel the chance to make another open hit to count four more points and put the game out of reach.
The victory came a week after Schwaller kicked things off by taking the Baden Masters title.
Pätz wins in return to skip
It was a double Swiss win, but not a double Schwaller win, as Alina Pätz captured the Euro Super Series women's title in her first event back at skip.
Pätz, who spent the past eight seasons as the vice skip for Silvana Tirinzoni, upended reigning world champions Team Xenia Schwaller 8-5 in the all-Swiss women's final.
The new team of Pätz, Selina Witschonke, Stefanie Berset and Renée Frigo went 6-1 through the event, with their lone loss coming in a shootout during the preliminary round against Team Giulia Zardini Lacedelli. Pätz downed Team Corrie Hürlimann 7-1 in the quarterfinals and doubled up on Zardini Lacedelli 6-3 in the rematch during the semifinals.
Xenia Schwaller, Selina Gafner, Fabienne Rieder and Selina Rychiger earned a playoff bye with a 4-0 round-robin record and eliminated Team Fay Henderson 7-2 in the semis.
Deuces were wild to start the final, with Schwaller holding a 4-2 advantage into the fourth-end break. However, Pätz poured on the pressure in the second half, surging into the lead. Looking at a sea of red rocks in the fifth, Schwaller needed to make a double takeout to limit the damage, as Pätz capped the end with a draw to score four points.
Pätz extended her lead to 8-4 with a steal of two in the sixth end after Schwaller came up short on a draw.
Schwaller was limited to a single in the seventh and ran out of rocks in the eighth.
Spiller, Zardini Lacedelli earn GSOC invites
The Euro Super Series served as the first tournament in the GSOC Satellite Events series.
The Grand Slam of Curling has partnered with high-profile tour events this season to provide new avenues for teams to qualify into the top-flight circuit.
Winners of GSOC Satellite Events are guaranteed spots in future Grand Slam of Curling tournaments, with the Euro Super Series champions receiving berths to the GSOC Invitational, Oct. 13-18, at Victoria’s Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre.
The GSOC competition committee selected 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams for the Invitational, with the Euro Super Series offering the first chance for those on the outside to earn their way in to help complete the 16-team fields.
Since the winners and finalists were already on the list, Spiller and Zardini Lacedelli have received invitations as the highest-ranked semifinalists on the world rankings.
The AMJ Shorty Jenkins Classic, Karuizawa International and Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic will also qualify teams for the GSOC Invitational in the coming weeks.
