FÜSSEN – Sweden's Anette Norberg is in the driver's seat at the 2007 Le Gruyère European Curling Championships.

It was an important second day for the "triple crown" champions of 2006, who won Olympic Gold, the World Championships and the European title all in the same season.

Norberg first met up with Swiss rival Mirjam Ott, who earned Olympic silver in Turin, and edged her 6-5.

In evening action, the Swedes clashed with Scotland's Kelly Wood, the other clear-cut threat for the ECC title, who won World silver in Japan last March. In a tight see-saw battle, the two sides swapped big ends and steals across the scoreboard before Sweden prevailed 9-8.

"This was absolutely the most important day for us," said coach Stefan Lund.

"And to come out of it with two wins is very, very good." 

His wife, Swedish third Eva Lund, is only recently back in action after giving birth to their second son. During the fall Tour season, her squad competed with alternate players and managed to win the Women's Masters in Basel.

"We had an important day in Aomori at the Worlds, early on," the coach recalled. "But then we started losing afterwards, so the rest of the games are important too."

Finishing out of the medals at the Worlds marked a substandard 2007 for the former champions. They also missed that season's Le Gruyère European event, after winning a record six consecutive Championships between 2000 and 2005.

Sweden leads the women's field at 4-0, with Ott and Wood both at 3-1, along with Russia and Denmark. The Russians beat Finland 8-7 and the Czech Republic by a 9-3 count for their two-win day, while the Danes edged Austria (8-7) and the Czechs (6-5) to keep pace.

Among the teams mired at 1-3 are Germany, who enjoyed their first win in a 10-4 romp over Austria.

Competition continues through to the Championship Finals on December 8, with live television and webstreamed coverage on Eurosport, NRK (Norway), Eurosport.com and CurlTV.com.