Swiss curlers blown away by the French
The Swiss men's curling team slipped to an unexpected second defeat at the world championships in Lausanne last night against France, but remain on course for a place in the semi-finals.
The defeat followed an encouraging performance against Denmark when Andreas Schwaller’s side notched up an 8-2 victory.
Against France, the Swiss team were well placed until the eighth end when the French registered three points, before going on to run out 7-3 winners.
Earlier in the day, the Swiss had made heavy weather of disposing of the Danish underdogs. But after a slow start – only registering their first points in the fourth end – the Swiss team went on to dominate the match, scoring four points in the eighth end, after which the Danes withdrew.
The Swiss men’s victory follows earlier wins over the United States and Germany. It also brings Switzerland a step closer to the semi-finals and qualification for next year’s Winter Olympics.
Today the team will be hoping to return to winning ways against New Zealand.
Over in the women’s championship, the outlook for the Swiss team is looking increasingly bleak – if not terminal. A fifth successive defeat, this time 8-10 to Norway, leaves the side languishing at the foot of the table.
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