CurlingZone: Muskatewitz reaches Final 8 in Baden

Fuessen's Marc Muskatewitz (Photo: Celine Stucki/WCF) have started the 2024-25 season on the right foot, qualifying for the playoffs in their first event.

By: Cameron Sallaj

With the round robin coming to a close Saturday afternoon at the Baden Masters, the eight teams qualified for the playoff round have been determined. With many of the top European teams advancing, Saturday night's quarterfinals are sure to produce some of the best curling with teams vying for a semifinal berth.

In Pool A, Italy's Joel Retornaz, Switzerland's Michael Brunner and Germany's Marc Muskatewitz all finished with 3-1 records respectively. However, in the tie breaking Draw Shot Challenge, it was the Germans who finished first and grabbed the second playoff seed.

A veteran on the international curling scene, Marc Muskatewitz joined the junior Benny Kapp rink for the 2023-24 season, skipping them in all the men's events they attended. Backed by Kapp, Felix Messenzehl, Johannes Scheuerl and Mario Trevisiol, the team had a superb world championships last season, finishing in fifth place overall with an 8-5 record. Back together for the new season, the team have continued to gel as they roll into the playoffs in Baden.

After a bye in the opening round game, the German rink had a hot start to the weekend by upsetting world number twelve ranked James Craik 6-5. They then won their second game by counting one in the eighth end to beat the Philippines's Marc Pfister 5-4.

Baden Masters - Draw 3 - James Craik vs Marc Muskatewitz:

Sitting at 2-0, the team faced their toughest test yet as they went up against world number one ranked Italy's Joel Retornaz. After giving up two in the second end, Team Muskatewitz counted three in the third end to put themselves ahead 4-2.

After getting one in the fourth, Retornaz stole two in the fifth end to go back into the lead 5-4. This didn't last for long, however, as in the sixth end another three points by the Germans gave them a strong 7-5 lead. They then hung on to win the game 8-6 in eight ends, taking down the best team in the world and improving to 3-0.

In their final round robin game, the team gave up a critical steal of four to Switzerland's Michael Brunner which they could not recover from, ultimately conceding the match 7-3. Despite this, their 3-1 record was enough to earn them the second seed overall of all twenty competing teams.

Despite ranking second, the team will face the powerhouse Niklas Edin rink in the quarterfinals. The Swedes, who also finished 3-1 in the round robin, had the worst draw to the button of all the tied teams, pushing them down into seventh place. If the Germans are able to take down Edin, it will be the first time Muskatewitz will have beaten the Olympic gold medalists as he is currently 0-7 in their head-to-head meetings.

All quarterfinals from the Baden Masters get underway at 2:30 PM Eastern Time with teams trying to advance to Sunday mornings semifinals.

Visit CurlingZone.com for SCORES, NEWS, and STREAMING LINKS.

To top ↑