SWISS DEFEAT MIGHTY SWEDEN FOR WOMEN'S EURO CHAMPIONSHIP

13. 12. 2008 ÖRNSKÖLDSVIK, Sweden - by George Karrys

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Picture: by Hakan Sundström

Switzerland's Mirjam Ott defeated defending Olympic and European champion Anette Norberg of Sweden 5-4 to win women's gold at the Le Gruyère European Curling Championships 2008.

The win was monumental for Ott, the only curler in the world with two Olympic medals -- both silver -- scored in 2002 and 2006.

The win came against her nemesis, Norberg, and her teammates who were looking for their eighth European title to go along with their 2006 Olympic gold and two world championships. The Swedes were playing on home ice in front of partisan crowd at Swedbank Arena in this twon 600 kilometres north of Stockholm.

And the victory was the third over Norberg in as many days for Ott, Carmen Schaefer, Valeria Spaelty and Janine Grenier.

"That's cool," said Ott.

"I'm very happy. This is so cool. Hopefully it is just the beginning."

The Swiss jumped out in front 2-0 and held leads of 3-1 and 4-3 until the eighth end, when Sweden tied the score. A cautious blank end later, Norberg failed to draw behind a guard and Ott made a come-around takeout for the victory.

Ott was the last woman to score European gold for Switzerland, at Copenhagen in 1996. That year she defeated Norberg's predecessor among Swedish curling legends, three-time world champion Elisabet Gustafson.

Earlier Saturday, Scotland's David Murdoch made a stirring comeback to defeat Norway's Thomas Ulsrud for his second straight Le Gruyère European title.

Both the men's and women's finals will broadcast from 22:00 GMT on Eurosport TV, in High-Definition.

In addition, the full selection of 24 "Eurosport Player" online matches from ECC 08 will remain available for archived viewing for one week, ending December 20.

The Eurosport Player is offering special "curling discounts" for selected European countries. Visit the World Curling Federation website (at www.worldcurling.org) and the event website (at www.ecc2008.se) for the list of countries and the special access code.

Scoring summaries can be viewed at www.cuponline.nu

Game feeds and highlight packages are also available for broadcasters from World Curling Television (WCTV)