Stoeckli to Vancouver Olympics

It’s all over in Arlesheim as Team Ralph Stoeckli defeated Team Stefan Karnusian 7-4 to win the Swiss Olympic Trials by a 4-1 games margin.

With the scored tied 3-3 in the sixth end, Stoeckli’s foursome scored the game’s third deuce and then added a pivotal steal in the seventh.

Equally important was a force in the eighth. Stoeckli added a single in the ninth and then blasted his way home for the trip to Vancouver in February... and to Canada next week, for the Grey Power World Cup in Mississauga.

It’s the first Olympic qualification for youthful third-rocker Jan Hauser, and Olympic trip number two for Stoeckli and lead Simon Struebin (Pinerolo 2006) and second/third Markus Eggler (Olympic bronze at Salt Lake 2002).

Stoeckli stranglehold

It was deathly quiet at times at the Curlingzentrum Region Basel CRB in Arlesheim.

When there wasn’t the sound of stone smashing, and yelling, of course.

Playing a three-day, best-of-seven series in a lonely ice rink is a tough chore. And it was gut-check day at the Swiss Olympic Trials.

Team Stefan Karnusian got things rolling with a 5-3 victory over Team Ralph Stoeckli, and the St. Moritz foursome were on the board with their first win.

Then, Karnusian scored two in the fifth end of match number four to take a 6-3 lead into the break.

But it all came crashing down in the second half of the match. Stoeckli worked a deuce to close the gap to 6-5, and then saw his last stone of the sixth curl just enough to make a double-takeout, and leave himself lying two.

Karnusian faced a draw to the four-foot for his one, and a solid 7-5 lead, but the rock slid heavy, and Stoeckli stole two for a shock 7-6 lead of this own.

In the eighth end, Stoeckli left his opponent with a tricky shot for two, facing one, but Karnusian wrecked on a guard... and then spun his stone into the rings onto his own second shot stone, to count one anyway!

After that excitment, the game calmed down and following some perfect tick-shot shooting by Stoeckli lead Simon Struebin, the Baden Regio skip got his single point in the 10th end for the 8-7 win.

Stoeckli now has a stranglehold on the Olympic berth, leading the series 3-1 with three chances to win tomorrow.

Stoeckli 2-0 at Swiss trials

Ralph Stoeckli has jumped out to a 2-0 series lead at the Swiss Olympic Trials in Arlesheim, near Basel.

The 2006 Olympian and 2003 world runner-up needs to win a total of four matches in the unique best-of-seven playoff against Stefan Karnusian, who represented Switzerland at last October’s European Championships.

Stoeckli, who also finished fourth at the 2009 Ford Worlds in Moncton, needed two points in the ninth and a steal of the 10th end to win the first match 7-6.

The afternoon tilt was all Stoeckli as his squad raced to a 7-2 lead after taking four points in the fifth end. The match ended with the score 9-4.

The competition are available via live streaming at LAOLA TV.

LAOLA curling coverage

The RE/Max Women’s Masters and other Eurocurling events are also available online through a new agreement with Switzerland’s LAOLA TV.

The deal covers Curling Champions Tour events in Europe, such as the Masters, and also the upcoming best-of-seven Swiss Olympic Trials playoff between Ralph Stoeckli and Stefan Karnusian, which takes place this coming Monday through Wednesday, Oct. 12-14.

The LAOLA TV curling channel is available through the Champions Curling Tour website or through this direct page.

Swiss curling update

It’s all things Swiss in today’s The Curling News Blogpost.

Why?

Well... why not?

1. Team Mirjam Ott made some waves at the end of the 2008-09 season by replacing second Valeria Spaelty with team alternate Carmen Kueng. Spaelty was the last remaining member of Ott’s 2006 Olympic silver medallist foursome, and Kung had been the squad’s dedicated alternate the last couple of seasons.

A photo of the new Team Ott, who are pretty much confirmed to represent Switzerland at Vancouver 2010, is located here. The accompanying update states the squad will be taking a full six-month leave of absence from work to focus on the drive to Vancouver, which will include six weeks of training/touring in Canada.

2. Team Ralph Stoeckli, fourth-place finishers at the Ford Worlds in Moncton, need to win a special best-of-seven playoff against 2008 European rep Stefan Karnusian to book their tickets to Vancouver. But should they win, they will not be heading to the Games with team coach Russ Howard.

Russ has confirmed his gig with the CTV Olympic broadcast consortium – which of course features the TSN curling crew – and will be doing the suit and tie thing in Vancouver. Howard might still be jetting to Switzerland in September to do some work with the squad – this is still TBD – but he definitely won’t be wearing the white cross in February.

Here’s a photo of Howard in his Swiss duds, consulting with Stoeckli and lead Simon Struebin, who just happens to be Europe’s representative on the board of the new World Curling Players’ Association (as we revealed last month).

Back in November, you may recall that TCN scored the first photo of Russ in his new coaching career.

Speaking of photos, the CCA image above (shot by Michael Burns) shows Stoeckli in a huge fist pump just as his final throw settles into the button for a big win in Moncton.

3. But there’s another Canadian coaching saga in Switzerland... two, in fact. The husband and wife team of Lorne and Chris Hamblin have been hired as Swiss Curling’s new national team coaches.

According to the Winnipeg Free Press story, Hamblin said he and his wife only wanted a chance to coach at a high level and the Swiss opportunity came along before any other. “If there had been similar opportunities in Canada," said Hamblin, “we would have pursued that. But there weren’t.”

4. Andreas “Andi” Schwaller has hung up his boots... for now. The man who rivalled Stoeckli for Swiss skipping honours throughout this decade – winning world silver in 2001 and Olympic bronze in 2002 – has retired from competition... but perhaps only for a year, as this story would indicate.

You can also listen to a radio interview with Schwaller – in German, of course – on this page.


So, there you go. Anything else for the rest of this North American holiday week?

• CTV’s retrospective Olympic features titled “Where Are They Now?” includes Joan McCusker, and that famed 1998 Olympic championship squad ...

• Sudbury, Ontario is currently hosting its annual Dominion Amethyst Curling Camp, which is previewed here and also featured here ...

• Three-quarters of Team Jennifer Jones made an appearance last weekend in Blackfalds, Alberta ...

• Kansas City, USA curling action takes place on Monday nights through August 31 ...

• And finally, the New Zealand curling championships started today, with the finals set to wrap up on Sunday ...