Esther Neuenschwander

Esther Neuenschwander (born September 30, 1983) is a Swiss curler. She currently plays second on Team Silvana Tirinzoni.[1]

Esther Neuenschwander
Curler
Neuenschwander at the Players Championship 2018
Born (1983-09-30) September 30, 1983
Zürich, Switzerland
Team
Curling clubCC Aarau,
Aarau, SUI
SkipSilvana Tirinzoni
FourthAlina Pätz
SecondEsther Neuenschwander
LeadMelanie Barbezat
Mixed doubles
partner		Michael Brunner
Career
Member Association  Switzerland
World Championship
appearances		4 (2006, 2007, 2013, 2019)
European Championship
appearances		3 (2017, 2018, 2019)
Olympic
appearances		1 (2018)
Grand Slam victories2 (2015 Tour Challenge, 2019 Champions Cup)
Medal record
Women's Curling
Representing   Switzerland
World Curling Championships
2019 Silkeborg
European Championships
2018 Tallinn
2019 Helsingborg

Career

In 2006, Neuenschwander qualified for her first World Women's Curling Championship playing lead for Silvana Tirinzoni. The Swiss team struggled, finishing in tenth place with a 3–8 record. The following year, she returned to the Worlds at the 2007 Championship,[2] this time playing third for Tirinzoni. The Swiss team lost their first three games but then turned things around and they nearly came back to qualify for the playoff round. Switzerland fell just short, finishing fifth with a 6–5 record.

In 2011, Neuenschwander won her first World Curling Tour event, the Red Deer Curling Classic.[3] She would not play in an international championship until 2013, when she played second for Switzerland at the 2013 World Women's Curling Championship.[4] After finishing the round robin with a 6–5 record, she found herself in a three-way tie for fourth. After beating Russia's Anna Sidorova in the first tie breaker, she lost to the United States' Erika Brown in the second, settling for fifth place. Team Tirinzoni has won several World Curling Tour since then, including the 2013 International Bernese Ladies Cup, the 2013 Stockholm Ladies Cup, the 2013 Women's Masters Basel and the 2014 Pomeroy Inn & Suites Prairie Showdown.

Neuenschwander and her rink began the 2014–15 season by winning their first event, the 2014 Stu Sells Oakville Tankard. They also qualified for the playoffs at several other events and finished second at the Swiss nationals.

While Neuenschwander did not return to an international competition for a while (due to strong competition in her home country from teams like Alina Pätz and Binia Feltscher), she and her rink have been strong on the World Curling Tour since then. The 2015–16 season included three tournament wins, including the first slam of the year, the 2015 GSOC Tour Challenge, where they beat the World #1 Rachel Homan rink in the final.[5] The team would also win the International Bernese Ladies Cup and the Glynhill Ladies International later that year. They also made four other tournament finals.

The Tirinzoni rink continued their WCT success the following season, winning their first event, the 2016 Stu Sells Oakville Tankard, but did not win any further tournaments. They began the 2017–18 season by defending their Oakville Tankard title, which would be the third time she would win that tournament.

In one of the strongest countries, with three different World Champions including a two time World Champion and two time Olympic silver medalist, Team Tirinzoni won the right to be the Switzerland representative at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Her team finished undefeated throughout the 2017 Swiss Olympic Curling Trials. At the games, the team just missed out on a playoff spot, finishing with a 4–5 record.

Heading into the 2018–19 curling season, Neuenschwander and Tirinzoni joined forces with Alina Pätz, who threw fourth rocks with Tirinzoni skipping at the third position. They brought on Melanie Barbezat to throw lead rocks. The team reached the final in the first Grand Slam of the season, the Elite 10.[6] They represented Switzerland at the 2018 European Curling Championships claiming the silver medal, going on an unbeaten 9–0 run to finish top of the Round Robin, before defeating Germany 6–4 in the semi-final, and falling 5–4 to Sweden's Anna Hasselborg in the final. Having won the 2019 Swiss National Championships, the team represented Switzerland at the 2019 World Women's Curling Championship in Silkeborg, Denmark. The team got off to a shaky start posting a 2–3 record in their first five games before winning six in a row to secure their playoff spot, and, after a final round dead rubber loss, a round robin record of 8–4 and 4th place in the standings. Tight victories over China in the qualification game, and South Korea in the semifinal set up a repeat of the European Championship final against Hasselborg and Sweden. They were able to turn the tables on Sweden, with Pätz making a draw to the four-foot in the extra end for an 8–7 win which meant they were crowned the 2019 world champions. The team capped off their year with their first Grand Slam title together at the Champions Cup, and reaching the final of the inaugural Curling World Cup.

At the start of the 2019–20 season, Team Tirinzoni were runners-up at the 2019 Cameron's Brewing Oakville Fall Classic.[7] They also qualified for the playoffs at their next three events, the 2019 Stu Sells Oakville Tankard, the 2019 AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic and the 2019 WCT Uiseong International Curling Cup. The next week, they won the Women's Masters Basel. They represented Switzerland at the 2019 European Curling Championships where they finished the round robin in first place with an 8–1 record. However, they would not make the final, as they lost to Scotland's Eve Muirhead in the semifinal. They rebounded in the bronze medal game, defeating Alina Kovaleva of Russia. The team would not get to defend their title as world champions, losing the final of the 2020 Swiss Women's Curling Championship to the young Elena Stern rink.[8] The Swiss championship would be the team's last event of the season, as both the Players' Championship and the Champions Cup Grand Slam events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9]

Team Tirinzoni began the 2020–21 season by making the final of the 2020 Schweizer Cup where they once again lost to the Stern rink.[10] Three weeks later, the team was invited to play in the Adelboden International men's World Curling Tour event, as a last minute addition.[11] After dropping their first game to Yannick Schwaller, they went on a four-game winning streak against the men's field before losing to Olympic bronze medallist Peter de Cruz in the semifinal.[12]

Personal life

Neuenschwander is formerly employed as an accountant.[13]

Teams
Season Skip Third Second Lead
2005–06[14] Silvana TirinzoniSandra AttingerAnna NeuenschwanderEsther Neuenschwander
2006–07 Silvana TirinzoniEsther NeuenschwanderAnna NeuenschwanderSandra Attinger
2010–11 Silvana TirinzoniIrene SchoriEsther NeuenschwanderSandra Gantenbein
2011–12 Silvana TirinzoniIrene SchoriEsther NeuenschwanderSandra Gantenbein
2012–13 Silvana TirinzoniMarlene AlbrechtEsther NeuenschwanderSandra Gantenbein
2013–14 Silvana TirinzoniManuela SiegristEsther NeuenschwanderMarlene Albrecht
2014–15 Silvana TirinzoniManuela SiegristEsther NeuenschwanderMarlene Albrecht
2015–16 Silvana TirinzoniManuela SiegristEsther NeuenschwanderMarlene Albrecht
2016–17 Silvana TirinzoniManuela Siegrist
Cathy Overton-Clapham		Esther NeuenschwanderMarlene Albrecht
2017–18 Silvana TirinzoniManuela Siegrist[lower-alpha 1]Esther Neuenschwander[lower-alpha 1]Marlene Albrecht
2018–19 Alina Pätz (Fourth)Silvana Tirinzoni (Skip)Esther NeuenschwanderMelanie Barbezat
2019–20 Alina Pätz (Fourth)Silvana Tirinzoni (Skip)Esther NeuenschwanderMelanie Barbezat
2020–21 Alina Pätz (Fourth)Silvana Tirinzoni (Skip)Esther NeuenschwanderMelanie Barbezat

Notes
  1. Siegrist and Neuenschwander switched positions partway through the season.

References
  1. "Team Silvana Tirinzoni". Grand Slam of Curling. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  2. U.S. women win one, lose one at curling worlds
  3. "2011 Red Deer Curling Classic". CurlingZone. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  4. "Canada's opponents in 2013 women's world curling championships in Riga, Latvia". Ottawa Citizen. March 14, 2013. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  5. Jonathan Brazeau (September 13, 2015). "Tirinzoni stuns Homan to win Tour Challenge". Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  6. Jonathan Brazeau (September 30, 2019). "Hasselborg makes GSOC history winning 1st Elite 10 women's title". Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  7. "2019 Cameron's Brewing Oakville Fall Classic". CurlingZone. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  8. "2020 Swiss Women's Curling Championship". Swiss Curling Association. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  9. "GSOC cancels remaining events of 2019–20 season". Grand Slam of Curling. Grand Slam of Curling. March 13, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  10. "2020 Schweizer Cup Results". Swiss Curling Association. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  11. "Tirinzoni takes on the men in Adelboden". CurlingZone. CurlingZone. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  12. "2020 Adelboden International". CurlingZone. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  13. 2018 Continental Cup Media Guide
  14. "Esther Neuenschwander Past Teams". CurlingZone. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
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