![]() Yannick Schwaller defeated Peter De Cruz 6-3 to capture the opening event of the 2021/22 Tour season. De Cruz opened with hammer in a battle of the top Swiss men's teams and blanked the first end, with fourth-rock thrower Benoit Schwarz facing three Schwaller counters in the second end on his last. Schwarz final stone needed a piece of the four-foot circle to score a single, though it slid heavy, giving Schwaller the early 3-0 lead. In the third end, Schwarz responded with a hit and roll on his first rock, then removed a Schwaller stone with his second to get their deuce back. Schwaller of Bern, Switzerland with Michael Brunner at third, Romano Meier at second and Marcel Kaeufeler at lead blanked the fourth end to maintain hammer advantage in the fifth end, where Schwaller added two more points for a 5-2 lead. In that fifth end, Schwaller had a tap back on a buried stone to get three, and got a little fortunate when his final stone slightly rubbed the guard but still managed to find it's way into the four-foot for the two points. The teams traded single points in the sixth and seventh ends, with Schwaller running De Cruz out of stones in the eighth end for handshakes and the win.
Schwaller takes home the 12,000 Swiss francs first prize purse, re-capturing the title after winning is in 2019. In the semifinal,s Schwaller eliminated reigning 2021 and 2020 champion, Niklas Edin of Sweden, winning 5-4 in an extra end. De Cruz skip of the Geneva-based team throwing second stones, joined by Schwarz at fourth, Sven Michel at third and Valentin Tanner at lead take home 8,000 Swiss francs with their runner-up finish. On Saturday evening, De Cruz defeated Noe Traub of Switzerland 5-4 in the quarterfinals, then dropped Norway's Steffen Walstad 5-3 in the semifinals to advance to the final. In the other quarterfinals matches, Schwaller won 7-2 over Yves Stocker of Switzerland, Edin won 6-2 over Norway's Magnus Ramsfjell, and Walstad eliminated Italy's Joel Retornaz with two in the eighth end in a 5-4 win. The Baden Masters included a field of 20 teams to open the season played at the Curling Center Baden Regio in Baden, Switzerland. Watch the Final replay here: |