OAKVILLE, Ont. — Yannick Schwaller is hoping there’s more in store for his Swiss squad after capturing the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard.
Schwaller stole the winning point in the extra end to edge Germany’s Team Marc Muskatewitz 6-5 during the men’s final Monday at the Oakville Curling Club. It was the second consecutive final to start the season for Schwaller, who finished runner-up to Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat in last month’s Baden Masters.
Schwaller, whose first-ever tour title win came in Oakville in 2018, said it’s amazing to do it again.
“We only lost the final in the last event we played and now we won this event, so it feels good,” said Schwaller, who skips and throws third on his Geneva-based team. “Honestly, I think we’re still off of our perfect game, so I’m hoping for even better.”
The victory capped a marathon of curling for Schwaller, fourth Benoît Schwarz-van Berkel, second Sven Michel and lead Pablo Lachat as they played five games within a 27-hour span.
After losing 6-4 to Muskatewitz Sunday afternoon, Schwaller needed a 7-3 win over Team Sam Mooibroek of Whitby, Ont., during the last-chance C-qualifiers in the evening to advance to the playoffs.
Schwaller eliminated the No. 1 ranked Mouat 9-8 in the quarterfinals Monday morning then ousted top Canadian club Team Brad Gushue 7-5 in the afternoon semifinals to set up a rematch against Muskatewitz with the title on the line.
“I’m very happy with the team,” said Schwaller, who climbed three spots to No. 4 in the world rankings. “We were looking into a grid yesterday, so we started at 3:30 p.m. and basically played back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back and so on since then.
“I felt we had a tough bracket with Mouat and Gushue before, so I’m very happy that we got the wins over those guys and were able to finish it off in the final.”
It came down to an extra end with Muskatewitz holding the all-important hammer, but Schwaller had two stones in the four-foot circle to make it a tricky shot. Muskatewitz hit off one and rolled in, but his shooter was unable to outcount the other Schwaller stone.
“I think we could have managed it a bit better so we wouldn’t have to steal in the extra end,” Schwaller said. “It would have been possible. I think in the seventh where we gave up a steal, if we are a bit calmer on Benoît’s first, we can really apply some pressure and there it was not very mature. But still, we believed in ourselves, kept fighting and put on some pressure.”
Team Schwaller has been one of the most consistent squads on the Grand Slam of Curling circuit since forming ahead of the Olympic quadrennial in 2022. Schwaller had a streak of eight consecutive playoff appearances including a runner-up result at the 2023 Players’ Championship.
The first Grand Slam of the season is only three weeks away and doing well at the HearingLife Tour Challenge — running Oct. 1-6 in Charlottetown — is Schwaller’s “first real season goal.”
“We want to be good. We want to continue our form because in a couple of weeks later, we will have European qualifiers against (Michael) Brunner,” Schwaller said. “We will try to not drop our form and even continue to do better.”
Monday was also a double win for the Schwaller family.
Xenia Schwaller, Yannick’s cousin, captured the Stu Sells Oakville Tankard women’s title after defeating Canada’s Team Kayla Skrlik 7-6.
Her team is off to a flying start as well and continuing last year’s breakout campaign that saw them win the gold medal at the world junior curling championships plus four tour titles.
“I’m very happy for them, it’s fun,” Yannick said with a smile. “They’re so young and they’re doing amazing. I’m hoping they can continue to grow like that.”