What—or whom—was Denmark’s secret weapon?
Reliable Scotland and surprising Denmark were crowned European curling champions after a week of competition in Östersund, Sweden.
Denmark’s Madeleine Dupont defeated Switzerland’s Silvana Tirinzoni 8-4 in an extra-end women’s final, while Scotland’s Bruce Mouat, the Olympic silver medallists from Beijing 2022, scored a winning deuce over Switzerland’s Yannick Schwaller in the men’s finale.
Switzerland’s women’s fourth thrower Alina Paetz attempted a three-point shot in the sixth end against the Dames but rolled her own stone out of the house. The Swiss were held to two points for a 3-2 lead.
Denmark blanked the seventh, then levelled the game at 3-3 in the eighth end when Dupont elected to throw away her last stone.
In the ninth, Switzerland’s Paetz had to draw inside four Danish stones already sitting in the house, to score one point and take a 4-3 lead.
The tables were turned in the 10th end, and, facing five Swiss counters, Denmark skip Dupont nudged her final stone into position to score one point, tie the game at 4-4, and force an extra end.
In the extra frame, Paetz was left with a double take-out attempt for the win, but her angle was slightly wrong and jammed the target stone, leaving Denmark with an inflated count of four points for the 8-4 victory.
This was only a second-ever European title for Danish women, with the previous victory coming in 1994. It triggered celebrations 20 years after Madeleine Dupont and her sister Denise, playing second, last played in a European final.
“That was unexpected! I did not expect (Paetz) to miss (her last shot). She’s too good to miss that,” said an excited Madeleine Dupont.
Asked how it felt to be a European champion, Dupont said, “I don’t know how it feels… I’ve just tried it (being champion) for a minute. It’s going to be a really good feeling for the rest of the year. I can’t remember the last time I got a gold medal in anything in curling.
“It has been a good week, hasn’t it? I don’t know what to say, I’m just very excited.”
Dupont was supported by third Mathilde Halse, second Denise Dupont, lead My Larsen, alternate Jasmin Lander and coach Ulrik Schmidt.
Denmark’s secret weapon may have been former world champion skip Peja Lindholm. The Swedish legend, who has coached national teams from Sweden and China, was in Östersund as a second coach for the Danes who enjoyed a surprising and successful week on Swedish ice.
Silvana Tirinzoni and Paetz were supported by second Carole Howald, lead Briar Schwaller-Huerlimann, alternate Anna Gut and coach Pierre Charette.
Third-place honours went to Scotland’s Rebecca Morrison, who defeated Italy’s Stefania Constantini 9-5 in the women’s bronze medal game.
Denmark had pounded Scotland 11-3 in one semifinal, while the Swiss upended Italy 9-5 in the other.
Dupont had defeated Tirinzoni 9-6 earlier in the round robin. The Danes went 10-1 through the week, while Switzerland finished 7-4.
On the men’s side, Scotland’s Bruce Mouat was attempting to defend his 2021 title against a new Swiss lineup featuring Yannick Schwaller at skip and Benoit Schwarz at fourth stones.
The score was 1-0 to Switzerland when Scotland grabbed a deuce to take the lead. After an exchange of singles, Switzerland blanked the seventh end before taking one in the eighth.
Then came a Swiss steal in the ninth end for a 4-3 lead.
It was all for nought coming home, however, as Mouat made a nifty down-weight double runback to score two for the 5-4 championship victory.
“I’m elated and totally buzzing,” said Mouat. “Having to make two shots in the tenth end like that is pretty special. This one means a lot, having to finish off a game like that, amazing.
“It was a roller coaster. It probably wasn’t our strongest Europeans performance but, to win the event after playing a couple of slack games feels amazing.”
Mouat was supported by third Grant Hardie, second Bobby Lammie, lead Hammy McMillan, alternate Kyle Waddell and coach Michael Goodfellow.
Schwaller and Schwarz were backed by second Sven Michel, lead Pablo Lechat and coach Haavard Vad Petterson.
Italy’s Joel Retornaz took the bronze medal with a 10-7 victory over Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson. It was the second straight European bronze performance for the Italian men.
The Swiss had defeated Sweden 6-3 in one semifinal, while Scotland took a huge four-ender in the eighth end to win their semi by a 7-4 count.
In terms of men’s world championship qualification, the top four plus Norway, Turkiye, Czech Republic and Germany have made it through while Spain (1-8) and Denmark (0-9) have been relegated to next year’s European B-Division.
On the women’s side, the top four plus Sweden, Turkiye, Germany and Norway are through while Hungary (1-8) and Latvia (0-9) are relegated