Euro Super Series Preview

#BetweenTheSheets: The Euro Swing Starts The Season

From Switzerland to Scotland, the season has begun

While most Canadian curling athletes and fans are wrapping up their summer vacations and preparing for the cool Fall weather, European curling athletes and fans are heading to curling clubs to kick off the new season.

Last weekend the season opened in Switzerland with the Baden Masters.

This weekend a handful of those same teams made the trek to Stirling, Scotland for the Euro Super Series.

And it is not only the men hitting the ice in Stirling. We will see our first women's tour event action of the season as well.

Plus we have some curling action in Asia as the ADVICS Cup kicks off in Tokoro, Japan.

#TwineTime slid out of the hack for its 11th season with the Season Preview blog post earlier in the week, discussing Olympic qualification and revealing the #TeamUpset Top 5 and Pre-Season Power Rankings.

Now we shift our attention to the #TwineTimePreview for this weekend's events.

Full disclosure, the Euro Super Series actually started on Wednesday, August 21. The men had two draws while the women had one.

The preview below is just that...a preview. It is not taking into account results already played.

Last week was the opening weekend, kicked off with the #TwineTimePreview of the Baden Masters.

From a #TwineTimePredictions perspective, it was an above average result coming out of the hack to open the season.

The blog predicted 6 of the 8 qualifiers and correctly tagged Team Schwaller to reach the final.

Unfortunately for the blog, Schwaller was unable to win the title, falling in the final to Team Mouat.

And Mouat is back on the ice this weekend, now as a home team in Scotland. Can they go back-to-back on the Euro swing to start the season? They are the defending champions after all.

Or can one of the teams who faltered last weekend make a playoff push this weekend?

What about those teams who are starting their season in Stirling? Will they be at a disadvantage playing teams who already hit the competitive ice last weekend?

Don't forget the women. We have a first look at a handful of teams making their season debuts.

We also get to see how competitive Japanese curling is when action hits the ice in Tokoro.

#TwineTimePreview

MEN

Euro Super Series

Stirling, Scotland

2023 Champion: Team Mouat

Format: 15 team RR with 3 pools of 5. Top 8 qualify.

#Fav: Team Mouat

The Champs Are Here.

Team Mouat is looking to start their season with back-to-back tour titles, claiming the August Euro Swing.

Since this event started four season ago, no team has been able to pull the Double Double. Can Mouat be the first?

They will arrive back home to friendly Scotland also looking to #DefendTheIce after claiming the title last season.

The Scottish lads are undefeated thus far, going a perfect 7-0 last weekend in Switzerland.

This weekend they are drawn in Pool A. Their main competition could come from Swiss's Team Brunner, who reached the QF last weekend.

Up and coming Team Casper (USA) and always dangerous Team Ramsfjell (NOR) post threats as well.

To go undefeated in back-to-back weeks might be a tough ask. But to win back-to-back titles? Very possible!

#TeamUpset: Team Gosgens

This is a huge season for #TeamOranje. They are trying to secure a spot in Torino for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

And as discussed in the blog's Season Preview, they sit on the positive side of the bubble...for now.

They need to have a strong season. It may not mean winning tour titles but it does mean beating teams ranked below them week in and week out.

It also means knocking off teams ranked above them. And this is the perfect opportunity to prove their might.

Gosgens (Ranked #27) is drawn into Pool C, facing off against higher ranked opposition Team McEwen (#8), Team Craik (#12) and Team Waddell (#20).

If they are to make the playoffs in Stirling, they will need to defeat at least two of these higher ranked teams while also taking care of business against Norway's Team Haarstad.

Last weekend in Baden, they opened their season going 0-4.

Last year at this event, they just missed the playoffs with a 2-2 record.

If Gosgens wants to turn the Olympic rings orange in 2026, they need to gain some momentum and confidence early in the season.

This is the weekend to make it happen.

#W2W4

This year's Euro Super Series event will see over half the field make the playoffs. With only 15 teams entered and 8 qualifiers, the odds are on your side before stepping on the ice.

Two wins cut it for only 1 team last weekend in Baden. This weekend, 2 wins could be enough to fill out half the playoff bracket.

The opportunity to make the playoffs is high. And the margin for error, to suffer a loss or two, is low.

This really is a player advantage event.

It is a bit disappointing to see this event have less entry's this year, dropping from the 20 participating teams last year.

We can only hope this is a one-off and not a larger commentary on the status of the sport. Maybe the season is starting too early?

But lets not knock the teams who did come to play this weekend either. Regardless of a smaller number of teams participating, the quality of the field is very high.

In fact, of the 15 teams registered to compete, 10 are ranked in the Top 20. 11 ranked in the Top 22.

And 13 of the teams are ranked within the Top 30.

This not only means we are in for a great weekend of curling action BUT, more importantly for the teams, this is an excellent opportunity to make a move up the rankings early in the season.

Knock off a few teams ranked above you. Make a playoff push. Move up the rankings come next week.

The pressure will be on those higher ranked teams. Teams like Mouat, Team Whyte, Team McEwen.

Is the gap between the Top 10 and rest growing? Or will we start to see a bit more parity in the men's game?

ADVICS Cup

Tokoro, Japan

2023 Champion: Team Abe

Format: 12 team RR with 3 pools of 4. Top 6 qualify. Top 2 overall after RR earn SF bye.

#Fav: Team Morozumi

Team Morozumi is one of the most consistent teams coming out of Japan.

They are always a threat at tour events. They hover around that pivotal Top 16 world ranking, the cutoff for #gsoc events. And they have experience.

A team you enjoy watching and seeing but, from an opposition lens, not a team you want to see on your side of the bracket.

And while consistency at the tour level has become a regular, struggling at the national championship has also been on-going.

Yusuke Morozumi has not won a Japanese championship since 2017. Morozumi has not even been in the final since 2020. And the last 3 years has not even landed on the podium.

For a team so well known around the world, it is shocking to see the national struggles this team has had.

As we close in on another Olympic year, is this the last hurrah for Morozumi? He did compete at the 2018 games of course, where he finished 4-5 to just miss the playoffs.

This will be a great opportunity to see where Morozumi stacks up against his national rivals.

Can the team ascend to the top? They are the highest ranked Japanese men's team after all, sitting at #19 in the world.

#TeamUpset: Team Lee

This may be an event in Japan loaded with Japanese teams but the team many may be watching will be Korea's Team Lee.

This is the early season #TeamUpset flag bearer, having shocked the system in winning the Korean title in June.

Now the pressure is on. You knocked off all the best teams in Korea, including the past 3 champions.

But now you need to back up the win with solid results on tour leading to the all-important Pan Continental Curling Championships in late October.

With China returning to the A-Division and a push for Olympic qualification points, Korea does not want to falter or fall behind their Asian rivals.

Lee will be in tough against the all-Japanese field this weekend.

But, if the #NextGen team can pull off a few wins and qualify for the playoffs, consider this a success.

Team Yanagisawa will be a tough RR opponent. But if the team can knock off Team Hirata and Team Nakahara, they can afford the slip up against the higher ranked Yanagisawa.

#W2W4

Consider this a Japanese championship early season preview, as is usually the case every season.

Who can get out to an early advantage over their rivals?

Team Abe pulled the feat here last year, winning the championship.

And look how that turned out. They ended up winning the Japanese championship a few months later.

The team who wins this championship, assuming it is a team from Japan, could be considered the early season #Fav for the national championship in February.

WOMEN

Euro Super Series

Stirling, Scotland

2023 Champion: Team Strouse

Format: 10 team RR with 2 pools of 5. Top 6 qualify. Top 2 overall after RR earn SF bye.

#Fav: Team Constantini

The Italians are coming into this season with positive momentum from last year...and unfinished business.

As mentioned in the Season Preview, do not think for a minute they are sitting back and easing into the 2026 Olympics on home ice.

Do they have a spot in the field? Yes.

Are they just coasting under Feb. 2026? Hardly!

This is a team who made great progress last year into becoming one of the top teams in the world.

But they also had hiccups along the way.

They lost the Euro final. They lost the world bronze medal game.

Both of those are motivators heading into this season.

The kick-off event is a great season opener for them. They will be challenged in the field but the field is also manageable, on paper, for them to make a push towards the title.

Pool B will present some challenges, namely Scottish champs Team Henderson and Canada's Team MacMillan (formerly Team Grandy).

They should top their pool and earn the SF bye.

#TeamUpset: Team Henderson

This is a telling season for the defending Scottish champs.

After winning the national title last season but not being chosen to attend the world championship, they are going to want to silence the doubters.

And with Team GB sitting on the bubble for direct Olympic qualification, they want to be the team to put them over the top and secure that ticket to Torino.

The tough road ahead starts in Stirling, where they are one of the home teams.

Ranked #50 in the world heading into the season, they will need to knock off teams ranked below them (Team Watt, Team Pfluegler) and give a challenge to those ranked above them (Constantini, MacMillan).

All eyes will be on Team Henderson this season to see how they respond after the disappointing end to last year (AFTER the excitement of winning the Scottish championship of course).

#W2W4

Canadian curling eyes will be on Kayla MacMillan as she moves back to skipping duties, replacing former skip Clancy Grandy.

Grandy made the decision to leave the team after a few successful seasons together. She is off to Scotland and preparing to marry Robin Brydone from Team Whyte. A special CONGRATULATIONS to them both!

But now MacMillan is skipping the team with Sarah Daniels joining at vice and it is up to this backend tandem to keep the team at the high standard we have seen over the years. The B.C. champs have established themselves as the top team in B.C. but now they need to stay there. And Team Corryn Brown is coming up fast to regain the B.C. title.

One thing we do know about the new look team, The King Niklas Edin will be coaching them once again. A HUGE advantage.

Pool B is covered from the preview notes above but what about Pool A?

Defending champion USA's Team Strouse is back looking to #DefendTheIce. Last season was a breakout year for the #NextGen team. And it started with this event and this championship.

They snuck up on teams last season. They won't be able to do the same this season. How do they handle the pressure of being a top ranked team heading into tour events now?

Scotland's Team Morrison will have a similar, yet different, chip on their shoulder this season in comparison to their main Scottish rivals Henderson.

Morrison lost the Scottish championship but was selected to represent Scotland at the world championship.

They failed to make the playoffs and collected just enough wins to be on the positive cut line for a direct Olympic spot for Team GB.

While Henderson will want to prove the doubters wrong last season, Morrison will want to silence the doubters who think an error in judgement was made.

The race is on between these two teams and it will be fun to watch how it unfolds all season.

We get our first comparison this weekend. They are in opposite pools, meaning the earliest they could meet is in the playoffs. Imagine a QF or SF or final between these two teams? Both from Stirling!

And if you don't think both of them will be watching the results of the other, you are fooling yourself.

They may not admit openly they are scoreboard watching, but you know they are!

ADVICS Cup

Tokoro, Japan

2023 Champion: Team Fujisawa

Format: 12 team RR with 3 pools of 4. Top 6 qualify. Top 2 overall after RR earn SF bye.

#Fav: Team Gim

The highest ranked team in the field is also the only non-Japanese team in the competition.

Korea's Team Gim has been riding a rocket to success over the past few seasons, culminating in a huge bronze medal win last year at the world championship.

As mentioned in the Pre-Season #PowerRankings, it is hard to imagine this team being ranked #3 in the world when they have been soooo good and so consistent. Of course when you note Team Homan and Team Tirinzoni ahead of them...well, tough to argue. 

The gap between the Top 3 is closer than people give it credit for. Gim did hand Team Homan their only loss at world's, defeating them in the RR. And they pushed them in the SF with Homan scoring 3 in 10 to win.

This is a good opportunity for Gim to start their season off on a strong footing. They may meet some RR resistance from fellow Pool A competitor Team Tabata but the bye to the SF is theirs for the taking.

Plus, if you are the only Korean team in a field of Japanese opposition competing on their home ice, don't you want to earn some national bragging rights?

#TeamUpset: Team Ueno

See Team Henderson's #TeamUpset section above?!?!

Similar to the Scottish champs, the defending Japanese champs have weight on their shoulders this season.

They shocked the system winning the title in February. They stumbled at world's. And Japan is on the wrong side of the direct-entry Olympic cutline because of it.

They have some work to do this season. Getting off to a good start here, qualifying for the playoffs and making a deep run against a majority Japanese opposition is important.

Plus, they are building towards the Pan Continental Curling Championships at the end of October. They will represent Japan in hopes of qualifying for the 2025 World Women's Curling Championship and helping add points to Japan's Olympic qualification.

Their final RR game will be against Team Fujisawa. The defending champs. The known "face" of Japanese women's curling.

If they can start their season picking up a W over main rival Fujisawa right out of the gate, the magical ride could continue.

#W2W4

Japan is loaded with talented women's teams.

Fujisawa. Tabata. Yoshimura. Ueno. Kitazawa.

But also watch out for Nakamura and Sasaki.

This event could almost be considered a national preview.

Each team will want to one up their national competitors and be the last team standing to earn momentum and early season bragging rights. 

Could the winner here be considered the #Fav for the Japanese championship in February? Possibly.

Or will a Korean team sweep the rug out from under them and steal the title on enemy ice?

#TwineTimePredictions

Euro Super Series

Qualifiers (M): Team Mouat, Team Whyte, Team Craik, Team Brunner, Team Dropkin, Team McEwen, Team Casper, Team Gosgens

Qualifiers (W): Team Strouse, Team Constantini, Team Morrison, Team Henderson, Team Dryburgh, Team MacMillan

CHAMPIONSHIP (M): Team Whyte def. Team Mouat

CHAMPIONSHIP (W): Team Constantini def. Team Strouse

ADVICS Cup

Qualifiers (M): Team Morozumi, Team Yanagisawa, Team Abe, Team Maeda, Team Hirata, Team Lee

Qualifiers (W): Team Gim, Team Fujisawa, Team Kitazawa, Team Tabata, Team Ueno, Team Yoshimura

CHAMPIONSHIP (M): Team Yanagisawa def. Team Abe

CHAMPIONSHIP (W): Team Gim def. Team Fujisawa

#StayTuned

The blog will return next week with the first #PowerRankings of the season. How will the results of this weekend (coupled with the Baden Masters results) shake up the mountain?

To those competing this weekend, good luck and good curling.

The blog is always watching 👀👀