SWITZERLAND ENDS EURO DROUGHT

16. 12. 2006

It was going to take a special performance to upend defending world champion Scotland in the final of the 2006 Le Gruyère European Curling Championship.

To the joy of a boisterous home crowd at St. Jakob Arena, Switzerland's new - and now disbanded - all-star team did just that, beating Scotland's David Murdoch 7-6 to win the championship.

Skip Andreas Schwaller and new temporary teammate Ralph Stöckli rode their experimental lineup right through the eight-day event, ably supported by front-enders Thomas Lips and Damien Grichting, in winning their country's first European title in 20 years.

Murdoch's men fell behind 3-1 and 5-2 before roaring back with a three-ender in the seventh frame. With the Swiss clinging to a nervous 6-5 lead in the 10th, the Scots maneuvered well to lurk for the deuce, but an uncharacteristic miss on Murdoch's first stone forced him to take the tying single with his last rock.

Switzerland held the hammer in the extra-end, played it cool, and after a critical double-takeout on his first rock, Schwaller made a cool draw to the four-foot for the win.

At next year's Le Gruyère European Curling Championship in Fussen, Germany, B-pool qualifiers Czech Republic (B-pool champion) and Italy graduate to the A-division, while Ireland and Wales both drop to the B-pool.