Alina Pätz

Alina Pätz (born 8 March 1990 in Urdorf, Switzerland) is a Swiss curler. She currently throws fourth stones on Team Silvana Tirinzoni. She is a three time world champion and was the alternate player for the Mirjam Ott rink which represented Switzerland at the 2014 Winter Olympics.[1]

Alina Pätz
Born
Alina Pätz

(1990-03-08) 8 March 1990
Team
Curling clubBaden Regio-Privera CC,
Baden, SUI
SkipSilvana Tirinzoni
FourthAlina Pätz
SecondEsther Neuenschwander
LeadMelanie Barbezat
Mixed doubles
partner
Sven Michel
Career
Member Association  Switzerland
World Championship
appearances
4 (2012, 2015, 2017, 2019)
World Mixed Doubles Championship
appearances
1 (2011)
European Championship
appearances
5 (2012, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2019)
Olympic
appearances
1 (2014)
Grand Slam victories1 (2019 Champions Cup)

Career

Playing as the alternate for the Ott rink, Pätz won a gold medal at the 2012 World Women's Curling Championship and a bronze medal at the 2013 European Curling Championships.[2] Pätz also won a silver medal at the 2010 European Mixed Curling Championship (playing lead for Claudio Pätz) and a gold medal at the 2011 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship (with Sven Michel).[3]

Pätz started skipping her own rink in 2013. The 2014–15 season was a breakthrough year for Pätz and teammates Nadine Lehmann, Marisa Winkelhausen and Nicole Schwägli. They won the 2014 Red Deer Curling Classic on the World Curling Tour, which was Pätz first tour win.[4] Pätz also qualified for the playoffs at the 2014 Masters Grand Slam of Curling event. In the second half of the season, they won the International Bernese Ladies Cup and the Swiss Women's Curling Championship, qualifying them for the 2015 World Women's Curling Championship. Switzerland finished the round robin in first place with a 10–1 record. A victory over Canada's Jennifer Jones sent them to the final, where they once again faced Jones. Up 4–3 in the tenth end, Pätz drew to the button for the win, winning the World Championship gold medal and title.[5]

The following season, Team Pätz won the right to represent Switzerland at the 2015 European Curling Championships, but they did not qualify for the playoffs, finishing 4–5. They also did not win any tour events during the season. They could not defend their title as world champions, as they lost in the Swiss championship to 2014 world champions Binia Feltscher.[6] The 2016–17 season was more successful for the Swiss rink. They won the 2017 International Bernese Ladies Cup and made the final of the Glynhill Ladies International. They also won the Swiss championship and represented Switzerland at the 2017 World Women's Curling Championship. Despite starting 4–0, the team lost six of their last seven games, ultimately not qualifying for the playoffs. They ended their season by finishing second at the 2017 Euronics European Masters and making the semifinals of the 2017 Humpty's Champions Cup.[7]

Team Pätz had several quarterfinal finishes during the 2017–18 curling season. They won the 2017 Stockholm Ladies Cup in October, defeating Kim Eun-jung in the final.[8] The team competed against the other top Swiss teams, Silvana Tirinzoni and Binia Feltscher, at the 2017 Swiss Olympic Curling Trials to choose the Swiss representative at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The event was ultimately won by the Tirinzoni rink, who finished 6–0. After failing to win the Swiss championship in February, the Pätz team disbanded.[9]

Heading into the 2018–19 curling season, Pätz joined forces with Silvana Tirinzoni, who would skip the team, but Pätz would throw fourth rocks, with Esther Neuenschwander at second and Melanie Barbezat throwing lead rocks. The team reached the final in the first Grand Slam of the season, the Elite 10.[10] They represented Switzerland at the 2018 European Curling Championships, claiming the silver medal. They were unbeaten in the round robin, winning nine games, defeated Germany 6–4 in the semi-final, and lost 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 went 2–3 in their first five games, then won six games in a row to secure their playoff spot. They went on to finish the round robin with a 8–4 record and in fourth place in the standings. They defeated China in the qualification game and South Korea in the semi-final to set up a repeat of the European Championship final against Hasselborg and Sweden. The result was reversed, with Pätz making a draw to the four-foot in the extra end for an 8–7 win to become the 2019 world champions. The team capped off their year by winning 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.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13]

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.[14] Three weeks later, the team was invited to play in the Adelboden International men's World Curling Tour event, as a last minute addition.[15] 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.[16]

Personal life

Pätz is in a relationship with fellow curler Sven Michel. She lives in Zurich.[17]

Grand Slam record

Key
C Champion
F Lost in Final
SF Lost in Semifinal
QF Lost in Quarterfinals
R16 Lost in the round of 16
Q Did not advance to playoffs
T2 Played in Tier 2 event
DNP Did not participate in event
N/A Not a Grand Slam event that season
Event 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
Masters Q DNP QF Q Q QF Q SF
Tour Challenge N/A N/A N/A Q Q QF QF QF
The National N/A N/A N/A DNP DNP QF SF Q
Canadian Open DNP DNP DNP QF DNP Q F QF
Players' DNP DNP QF Q DNP DNP Q N/A
Champions Cup N/A N/A N/A DNP SF Q C N/A

Former events

Event 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
Elite 10 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A F
Colonial Square Q DNP Q N/A N/A N/A N/A

Teams

Season Skip Third Second Lead
2010–11[18] Nicole DünkiAlina PätzGioia OeschleFabiola Duss
2011–12 Manuela SiegristAlina PätzClaudia HugNicole Dünki
2012–13 Manuela SiegristAlina PätzNadine LehmannNicole Dünki
2013–14 Alina PätzNadine LehmannNicole SchwägliNicole Dünki
2014–15 Alina PätzNadine LehmannMarisa WinkelhausenNicole Schwägli
2015–16 Alina PätzNadine LehmannMarisa WinkelhausenNicole Schwägli
2016–17 Alina PätzNadine LehmannMarisa WinkelhausenNicole Schwägli
2017–18 Alina PätzNadine LehmannMarisa WinkelhausenNicole Schwägli
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

References

  1. "Alina Pätz". Sochi 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  2. "Switzerland wins women's world curling title". Curling Canada. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  3. "2011 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship". World Curling Federation. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  4. "2014 Red Deer Curling Classic". CurlingZone. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  5. Video (full game): 2015 World Women's Curling Championship - Final - Switzerland (Alina Pätz) vs Canada (Jennifer Jones) on YouTube
  6. "2016 Swiss League Championship". CurlingZone. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  7. Jonathan Brazeau (April 30, 2017). "Koe delivers spectacular shot to reach Champions Cup final". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  8. Video (full game): 2017 Stockholm Ladies Cup - Final - Alina Pätz vs Kim Eun-jung on YouTube
  9. "Team Pätz Team Announcement". Facebook. March 12, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  10. Jonathan Brazeau (September 30, 2019). "Hasselborg makes GSOC history winning 1st Elite 10 women's title". Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  11. "2019 Cameron's Brewing Oakville Fall Classic". CurlingZone. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  12. "2020 Swiss Women's Curling Championship". Swiss Curling Association. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  13. "GSOC cancels remaining events of 2019–20 season". Grand Slam of Curling. Grand Slam of Curling. March 13, 2020. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  14. "2020 Schweizer Cup Results". Swiss Curling Association. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  15. "Tirinzoni takes on the men in Adelboden". CurlingZone. CurlingZone. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  16. "2020 Adelboden International". CurlingZone. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  17. 2019 Continental Cup Media Guide: Team Tirinzoni
  18. "Alina Pätz Past Teams". CurlingZone. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
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