18 December 2025
Czechia, Australia and China secure last mixed doubles Olympic Qualification play-off spots
The final three Olympic qualification play-off spots were secured on Wednesday in the mixed doubles competition at the Olympic Qualification Event. Czechia, Australia and China will join Korea in the play-off games that take place tomorrow (Thursday 18 December).
Group B
Australia beat China 6-5 in their last round-robin game to finish top of Group B and qualify for the play-offs.
This was China’s only defeat, meaning they finished second and will progress to the play-offs. Netherlands were defeated by New Zealand 5-8 in their last game and finished third.
There was never more than a point between Australia and China throughout their game. Australia scored two in the second end for a 2-1 lead when Tahli Gill played a gentle tap-up. China responded immediately in the third when Ye Zixuan had an empty house to draw into for one point, tying the game at 2-2.
Eventually, in the eighth end, Ye caught a guard with her last stone, leaving Australia to score the two points needed for their 6-5 win without delivering their last stone.
After this win, Australia’s Dean Hewitt said, “That was a battle. We had to fight all the way and just keep going.”
His partner Tahli Gill added, “For us it’s just about focussing on taking it one shot at a time. We know that in doubles it can switch either way, so we just had to stay strong in our mindset and that’s what we focussed on.”
Looking to the play-offs, Hewitt said, “We’re playing pretty well and if we can play like we did in the last couple of games, that’ll be good.”
Netherlands’ hopes of reaching the play-offs vanished when they lost out by 8-5 to New Zealand. New Zealand sealed their win with a steal of two in the eighth end when Dutch female player Lisenka Bomas could not disturb a cluster of stones round the button with her last effort.
This means that Netherlands finished third in the Group, while New Zealand were fifth.
Denmark had a one-sided 9-1 win over Spain in this session to finish fourth while Spain were eighth.
Hungary beat France by 7-6 in this session. France led by 6-5 as the teams played the seventh end, but Stephanie Barbarin missed her target stone with a take-out attempt in the seventh to give up a steal of one. A further steal of one in the eighth gave Hungary their win and they finished sixth in the group while France were seventh.
Group A
Earlier, Group A’s round robin had concluded.
Japan were due to play Austria in this session, however Austria’s continued illness-enforced absence gave Japan an automatic win. This meant they had to wait on results from the rest of the session to find out if the five wins they had secured would be enough for them to qualify.
With six wins and no losses so far, Korea had already qualified when they came onto the ice to play Czechia in this session. Meanwhile, Czechia knew that if they won against Korea, they would also qualify for the play-offs — at Japan’s expense.
Czechia opened with a score of two in the first end when Julie Zelingrova played a hit. Korea could only respond with a single point in the second when Kim Seon-Yeong drew her last onto the button. Zelingrova then played a nose-hit for three in the third, securing a 5-1 lead.
The Czechs stayed in control and eventually scored three in the seventh end for a 9-3 scoreline, despite their last draw coming up short. Korea then conceded.
This result put Czechia on top of the Group A rankings to go into the play-offs with two chances of qualifying, while Korea qualify in second place. Japan sit third on the standings.
After his win, Czechia’s Vit Chabicovsky said, “It’s amazing, but we still have to win to qualify (for the Olympics). So, we need to stay on the ground and keep working hard. We had a really strong start and that helps.”
He added, “I don’t think we’re going to change anything for tomorrow. We’ll keep on doing what we’re doing — I’m not sure what it is, but it’s working good!”
Finland played Germany in this session. By the fourth end, Germany had built a 4-0 lead until Finland’s Lotta Immonen played a double take-out to score four points and level the game to 4-4.
However, Germany went on to win 7-5 with a single point steal in the eighth end to rank fifth overall, while Finland finished in seventh position.
The third game of this session saw Latvia play Türkiye.
When this game reached the eighth end, Latvia led 6-5. Türkiye’s Berfin Sengul then played a draw which was heavy and through the house. However, Türkiye already had two stones in the house meaning they scored two points to secure the 7-6 win.
Latvia finished sixth in the group, while Türkiye finished fourth.
All Olympic Qualification Event qualification play-off games will be broadcast on the Curling Channel, however, there may be restrictions due to broadcast partner agreements.
Find the schedule and follow results here.
Find the final round robin standings here.
Find the mixed doubles play-off bracket here.
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