Swiss mixed curlers start with a win

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The Swiss team and married couple Briar and Yannick Schwaller-Hürlimann have opened the world curling championships in the Olympic mixed doubles in Gangneung, South Korea with a big win. The two beat outsiders England 11:2.

Lina and Michael Opel, the English duo, stole eight stones from the 2nd to the 4th ends until the score was 0:10. They gave up after six of the eight ends of the match.

Yannick Schwaller, skipper of the CC Geneva team, was no less successful in classic curling this winter. The European Championship silver was recently followed by a third place at the World Cup in Ottawa.

The Mixed Doubles World Cup, which has only been held since 2008 – the discipline has been on the Olympic program since 2018 – is a Swiss domain. Several teams won 7 of the 14 World Cup titles for Switzerland.

The Swiss team is one of the title contenders

Schwaller/Schwaller are also among the title contenders in South Korea, in the curling stadium of the 2018 Winter Olympics. The Scottish crew is of comparable caliber with the new world champion Skip Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds, who was on the team of the last Olympic champion. Eve Muirhead played. The two became world champions in 2021. In contrast, several other established countries cannot compete with players who have done well in four-man curling.

As with four-man curling, the odds for the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan will only be played in mixed doubles at the 2024 and 2025 World Cup tournaments. Therefore, the Swiss duo can look ahead: towards medals.

The Swiss team will meet Spain on Sunday evening (03:00 CET) before facing the US on the same day (11:00 CET). (SDA)

Source : Blick