15 April 2024
World championships return to Oestersund, Sweden
The World Curling championship spotlight moves to Sweden between 20 and 27 April when the Oestersund Arena plays host to the World Mixed Doubles Championship and World Seniors Championships.
Oestersund is located in Jamtland, the middle of Sweden. The city is home to over 50,000 people and is the region’s cultural and economic centre. It is also one of Sweden’s best organisers of sports events, in a range of disciplines.
Oestersund has welcomed numerous World Curling events since 1999: the World Junior Curling Championships in 1999, 2008 and 2012, the World Junior-B Championships in 2017, the World Mixed Doubles Championship and World Senior Championships in 2018 and most recently, the Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships 2022.
The first world mixed doubles championship was held in 2008, at Vierumaki in Finland. This will be the 16th edition and will feature 20 mixed doubles pairings.
The seniors’ competition will see 25 men’s teams and 18 women’s teams competing for medals and the world title.
Mixed Doubles competition
The mixed doubles teams qualified either through their performances in the 2023 world championship in Gangneung, Korea or through the World Mixed Doubles Qualification Event in December 2023 in Dumfries, Scotland.
The four qualifiers from the Qualification Event were (in finishing order): Germany, France, China and New Zealand.
The teams are divided into two groups of ten:
Group A: Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and Türkiye
Group B: Australia, Canada, China, Czechia, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden and United States.
Meet the teams
Australia: Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt are Australia’s only Olympic curlers, and they compete together for the fifth time at this event, trying to better their best performance – fourth place in 2019.
Canada: Husband and wife Kadriana and Colton Lott make a debut together.
China: Yang Ying and Tian Jiafeng qualified through the Word Mixed Doubles Qualification Event 2023.
Czechia: Husband and wife Zuzana Paulova and Tomas Paul finished sixth in the 2022 Olympic Games and are making a seventh appearance together at the world championships.
Denmark: Jasmin Lander and Henrik Holtermann are making a third successive appearance.
Estonia: Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill make a seventh appearance together, having ranked fifth in 2019 and 2023.
France: Wilfrid Coulot returns to this competition for the first time since 2009, while female player Kseniya Shevchuk makes her debut.
Germany: Lena Kapp and Sixten Totzek are a new team that qualified for the world championship at the qualification event in Dumfries.
Italy: Olympic champion Stefania Constantini plays with current world men’s bronze medallist and junior silver medallist Francesco De Zanna, who is making his debut in this event.
Japan: female player Ueno Miyu is making her debut while her male partner Yamaguchi Tsuyoshi makes a third appearance, having last competed in 2019.
Korea: Kim Jiyoon and Jeong Byeongjin make a second appearance together, having finished 16th on home ice last season.
Netherlands: Vanessa Tonoli and Wouter Goesgens return for a second time, having finished 14th last season.
New Zealand: Courtney Smith and Anton Hood last played at this event together in 2021, when they finished 12th.
Norway: Husband and wife Magnus Nedregotten and Kristin Skaslien play in their eighth championship together. They hold Olympic bronze and silver medals, as well as two world medals.
Scotland: represented by a new pairing of Sophie Jackson and Duncan McFadzean.
Spain: Oihane Otaegi and Mikel Unanue make their fifth appearance together.
Sweden: Isabella Wranaa and her Olympic champion brother Rasmus compete together for the second time. In 2022 they finished fifth.
Switzerland: husband and wife Yannick Schwaller and Briar Schwaller-Huerlimann play together in this event for a second time. They finished seventh last year.
Türkiye: Dilsat Yildiz makes her seventh appearance and renews her partnership with Bilal Omer Cakir for a second time.
United States: Sister and brother Becca and Matt Hamilton —Olympic men’s champion in 2018 — play in this event for a third time together, having finished eighth in 2022.
Schedule and format
18 sessions of round robin play will start on Saturday 20 April, and conclude on Thursday 25 April.
After this each group winner will go directly to the semi-finals, while in cross-over games the second- and third-placed team from each group will play qualification games. These games will take place at 10:00 on Friday 26 April, with the winners also going to the semi-finals. Relegation games will also take place at 10:00 on Friday.
The semi-finals will be played at 18:00 on Friday.
The losers of the semi-finals will play for bronze medals at 10:00 on Saturday 27 April. The gold medal final will be held on the same day at 14:00.
All games will be available to watch on The Curling Channel. Geo-blocking may be in place.
Select games can be viewed internationally on the following: Japan (NHK), Switzerland (SRG, RTS, RSI), Sweden (SVT), Scotland (BBC) and Czechia (CZCT). For more details, consult the broadcasters’ programme.
More information about streaming is available here.
Find the full playing schedule here.
Seniors competition
The World Senior Championships will also be staged in the Oestersund Arena. The first World Senior Championships were held in Bismarck, North Dakota, United States in 2002.
Women’s event
The teams have been divided into three groups of six teams:
Group A: Canada, Czechia, Finland, Japan, Lithuania and Norway
Group B: Estonia, Hong Kong, Ireland, Latvia, Sweden and Switzerland
Group C: Australia, Denmark, England, New Zealand, Scotland and United States.
There will be 12 sessions of round-robin play, starting on Saturday 20 April, and completing on the evening of Wednesday 24 April.
Quarter-finals will take place at 19:00 on Thursday 25 April. The semi-finals will be held at 19:00 on Friday 26 April. The medal games will take place at 10:30 on Saturday 27 April.
Men’s event
The teams have been divided into four groups, one involving seven teams and the other three featuring six teams:
Group A: Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Philippines and Wales
Group B: Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland and Scotland
Group C: Belgium, England, Estonia, Latvia, Switzerland and United States
Group D: Australia, Czechia, Hong Kong, Hungary, Japan and Sweden.
There will be 17 sessions of round-robin play, starting on Saturday 20 April, and completing on the afternoon of Thursday 25 April.
Quarter-finals will take place at 13:00 on Friday 26 April. The semi-finals will be held at 19:00 on Friday 26 April. The medal games will take place at 10:30 on Saturday 27 April.
Find the full playing schedules here.
All times are Central European Summer Time (CEST), which is UTC+2 hours.
Engage with World Curling in the lead up to the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2024 and the World Senior Championships 2024 on TikTok, Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, and Weibo and by searching the hashtags #WMDCC, #WSCC and #curling
