Switzerland Wins Gold at World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship

Switzerland capped a perfect week, winning every game in the competition on their way to a 7-6 victory over Sweden to win the gold medal at the 2012 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Erzurum, Turkey, on Sunday.

Chantelle Eberle and Dean Hicke talk strategy (Photo WCF/Volkan Atar)

For Canada, an eight-game undefeated streak came to an end in quarterfinal action Sunday morning when Chantelle Eberle and Dean Hicke found themselves on the short side of a 10-1 score against Sweden. In the quarterfinal, Sweden’s Per Noreen and Camilla Johansson controlled the game from the start and were up 5-0 by the fourth-end break. Canada just missed scoring a deuce in five when an attempted hit and stick rolled out. The Swedes made virtually every shot and by the end of the seventh end, held a 10-1 lead. “They just made everything and we just missed everything,” summed up Eberle after the game. “The ice was a bit straighter on us,” said Hicke. “We just had an awful time following them in behind the centre guard. It just seemed to be end after end and perfect shots by them and not so good shots by us and that makes for a big score. I sum up the game by me making a half rock, 15-foot, in-off and picking our own rock off the back of the button in the seventh end! That pretty much sums it up.”

Switzerland's Martin Rios and Nadine Lehmann (Photo WCF/Volkan Atar)

In the Bronze Medal game, Austria’s Christian Toth and Claudia Roth defeated the USA’s Brady and Cristin Clark 12-7 after a score of 4 in the seventh end put the game out of reach. Switzerland’s Rios and Lehmann, who went undefeated throughout the entire competition, trailed Sweden 5-2 after five ends. In a dramatic turnaround, Switzerland scored three points in the sixth and stole another in the seventh to take a 7-5 lead into eight. Sweden attempted a difficult last-rock double to score 3, but just missed, giving Switzerland the 7-6 victory. For Switzerland, this is the fourth championship title in the five-year history of the event. Complete standings at the end of the event are available on the event website: https://www.wmdcc2012.curlingevents.com All results are mirrored on the WCF Historical Results Database: https://results.worldcurling.org/ View news, line scores, image galleries, video highlights and full games on the event website: https://www.wmdcc2012.curlingevents.com All video is also available on the WCF YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/WorldCurlingTV