10 January 2026
China, France, Hungary and Netherlands secure place at World Mixed Doubles 2026
This week, the World Mixed Doubles Qualification Event took place at the Dumfries Ice Bowl in Dumfries, Scotland, where 33 teams competed for a chance to qualify for the Ace & Company World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2026. This event is set to take place in Geneva, Switzerland from 25 April to 2 May 2026.
After six days of competition, China, France, Hungary and Netherlands came out on top, securing their places at the main event.
Qualification games
As per the competition format, teams ranked 5–12 after the round robin played on Saturday morning to determine who would progress to the second round of qualification games against those ranked 1–4.
In these games, Poland, who came second on the Group B standings at the conclusion of the round robin (5-1), won their first qualification game 10-3 against Philippines, who finished second in Group D (4-1).
Poland later went on to play Netherlands who had completed their Group A round-robin play unbeaten (6-0). Netherlands continued their winning streak, producing a healthy 10-4 win against Poland and securing their spot at the World Mixed Doubles in spring.
Latvia came second in Group E (4-1) and faced Ireland who was second in Group A (4-2). It was Latvia who came out on top, a narrow 6-5 win confirming their progression to the second round of qualification games.
In this second round they faced top of Group E Hungary (4-1). Hungary proved too strong for Latvia, securing a 9-5 win and a place in Geneva.
Austria, who placed second in Group C’s round robin (5-1), went up against Group C’s third placed Jamaica (4-2). Austria was successful, beating Jamaica 10-4 to progress.
They were up against Group D’s undefeated leader France (5-0) in their second qualification game. France’s record also went unscathed, as they beat Austria 9-4 and booked their ticket to the World Mixed Doubles.
Finally, top of Group C Chinese Taipei (5-1) won their first qualification game against Group B’s third place England (3-3) by 7-5.
The second round saw them face Group B’s leader China who had also gone undefeated throughout the round robin (6-0). After seven ends, China came out on top, beating Chinese Taipei 7-5 and securing their place at the main event in a few months’ time.
Qualified teams
The qualified China mixed doubles team are female player Ye Zixuan, male player Yu Sen and coach Zhou Yan.
The qualified France mixed doubles team are female player Stephanie Barbarin, male player Wilfrid Coulot and coach Romain Borini.
The qualified Hungary mixed doubles team are female player Udvardi-Palancsa Dorottya, male player Tatar Lorinc and coach Palancsa Zoltan.
The qualified Netherlands mixed doubles team are female player Vanessa Tonoli, male player Laurens Hoekman and coach Shari Leibbrandt.
Find the final standings here.
Find all results from the event here.
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