![]() As the first competitive tournament comes to a close, Elena Stern (Oberwallis) continues their winning ways (twice more) over Silvana Tirinzoni (Aarau) to capture the Schweizer Cup Gold-medal. Trailing 6-5 in the final end, Briar Huerlimann (throwing last stones for Stern) made a precise draw with her first shot, leading to the score of two points and the win. For Stern, joined by Lisa Gisler and Celine Koller on the front end, the win marks the fifth in the row over Tirinzoni, and seventh of the last ten meetings. Stern ranks sixth in the world, one spot ahead of the more experienced Tirinzoni side -- Alina Paetz throwing fourth stones and Esther Neuenschwander and Melanie Barbezat at front-end -- now seventh on the World Curling Federation World Team Rankings. The game was not easy for Stern, who've been up and down all week, yet continue to come out on the winning side when it matters most. After stealing one in the first end, Stern gave up two in the second end, then steals in the third and fourth ends to trail 4-1. The comeback queued from there, with Huerlimann drawing for three in the fifth end, following up with a steal in the sixth end, when Paetz's last stone draw to score was heavy and staying straight. Paetz bounced back with a great draw to the side of the four-foot in the seventh end to put Tirinzoni up one into the last end. Irene Schori (Langenthal) defeated Raphaela Keiser (St. Moritz) 9-6 in the Bronze medal game. Earlier in the day, the women's round-robin completed, with Stern winning 7-3 over Tirinzoni to book their spot into the final. First and second place in the 7-team round-robin advanced to the Gold medal game, while third and fourth place played for the Bronze medal. A great start to the season - Schweizer Cup Champions! The Schweizer Cup was streamed through the Swiss Curling Association channel out Youtube, with archives found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEbzd93dc1hH-YcL2VBB9UQ |