The Swiss curlers led by skip Yannick Schwaller don't do much wrong in the World Championship final, but they still lose.
07.04.2025, 20:35
07.04.2025, 22:19
SDA
In an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency, Schwaller talks about his emotional state, the lessons learned from last year's disappointment at the home World Championships, new coach Glenn Howard, and he looks ahead to the coming season with the Olympic Games.
Yannick Schwaller, what are your feelings the morning after narrowly losing the World Championship final?
"I have mixed feelings. I'm very proud of how we played, how we performed as a team. The World Cup shows that our work on our weaknesses has paid off. At the same time, the defeat hurts. Depending on the situation, you only make it to a World Cup final once in your life and then of course you want to win it."
Does it help to process the fact that you can't blame yourselves much, that you didn't do much wrong in the final?
"Havard (Vad Petersson), our coach, told us that he didn't stand a chance twice in a World Cup final. That feels even worse. We played a great game. The best thing was how calmly we played, without any major nervousness and how comfortable each of us felt - in a World Cup final in front of 4500 spectators and lots of people in front of the TV. Everyone was themselves. Very, very, very small details made all the difference. It was an absolutely world-class match."
A year ago, you only managed 7th place at the home World Championships in Schaffhausen. What were the main lessons you learned from that disappointment that have now borne fruit?
"We wanted to be calmer as a team and make the right decisions at key moments without rushing. We definitely achieved that. Another point was that the roles are clearly distributed and I set the tactics so that there are no discussions every time. Meanwhile, the wipers take full responsibility for the speed of the stone, how fast each track is on the ice. That's how we became a good construct.
Is there a weakness that you still want to eliminate?
"We said to each other that we couldn't play much better than we did in the final. The Scots put in an incredible performance, it was impressive."
You added curling icon Glenn Howard, a four-time world champion, to the coaching staff for the World Championships. What specifically did he bring to the table?
"He's one of the best curlers to have ever played the sport and was able to support us mentally everywhere. When he says something, it has substance. He is also a very humble person who is a pleasure to be around. The drive in the coaching team was great. That makes everyone better. His support has proved its worth and the signs are positive that he will be with us again next season."
The Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo are coming up next February. How much does 2nd place help with regard to this highlight?
"It gives us self-confidence. It's clear that we're among the top 5 in the world again and that we can beat anyone. With our performance in the final, we would probably have won almost every tournament we've played so far. It's really crazy to have lost."
It's also crazy that you only have a one-day break until the next tournament, the Grand Slam final in Toronto with the best twelve teams of the season.
"It will be extremely difficult. I'm not sure if we'll manage to reach our level again. But it's the tour where you can earn the most in curling. We rely on the prize money. We'll approach the tournament without pressure and see what happens."
