29 April 2026
Australia first to qualify for mixed doubles semi-finals
With just one team qualified for the semi-finals, it will be all to play for on the final day of round-robin play at the ACE & Company World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2026.
Group A
Australia became the first team to qualify for the semi-finals when they beat New Zealand by 10-4 in their second-last round-robin game on Wednesday evening.
Earlier, they were beaten by Netherlands 5-7 to give up their unbeaten record. However, their win over New Zealand not only qualified them for the play-offs, but because of results elsewhere, they are also guaranteed a direct route to the semi-finals, avoiding an extra qualification game.
Australia’s morning game with Netherlands was tight all the way. The score was tied at 4-4 as the teams played the seventh end and, in that end, Netherlands’ Lisenka Bomas played a hit to score three points and give the Dutch a 7-4 lead. Netherlands then went on to win by 7-5 to hand the Australians their first loss so far.
In their evening game, Australia faced New Zealand. This game was tied at 1-1 as the teams played the third end. Australia’s Tahli Gill then played a hit to score four points and take a 5-1 lead. The New Zealanders never recovered from this and eventually conceded after the sixth end, with Australia’s winning 10-4 score making them the first team to qualify.
Behind Australia, Japan and Sweden are locked in joint second place, but not yet guaranteed a play-off place.
Before facing Australia, New Zealand played Japan. In this game, Japan led by 3-1 as the teams played the fourth end. Japan’s Aoki Go then scored four points with a hit to improve his team’s lead to 7-1. This put the game beyond New Zealand and Japan went on to win by 11-1 in just six ends.
Japan then played Norway in the evening session and, as the teams played the eighth end, Japan held the narrowest of leads, at 5-4. With her final stone, Norway’s Eilin Kjaerland attempted a hit for the two points that would give her victory but she was wide and gave up a single steal instead, handing Japan a 6-4 win.
Meanwhile, Sweden played Norway in the morning session, with both teams still well-placed to qualify for the weekend play-offs. This tight game went all the way to an extra end, with the teams locked at 6-6. In that end, Sweden’s Therese Westman hit out a Norwegian stone to score two points and win by 8-6.
After this win, Sweden’s Westman said, “That was a close game. It was a really important game, so it was really nice to get the win.”
She added, “It’s the worlds, so they are all tough games!”.
Her partner Robin Ahlberg said, “We played well the whole game. They came back with the three in the eighth, but we felt in control all the way, especially having the hammer in the extra.”
Later, Sweden went on to beat China by 8-5, to join Japan in second place.
Estonia had two wins on Wednesday to keep a slim chance of qualifying for the play-offs.
Their morning game against France was tied at 3-3 in the fifth end when Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee played a draw into a busy house to score two points and take a 5-3 lead. After this, Estonia went on to win by 8-4.
Speaking after this game, Estonia’s Harri Lill said, “It’s not in our hands now, so we need to win games. We didn’t feel in control, but the main thing is to make chances and put points on the scoreboard, so we’ll take that.”
Later, Estonia faced Denmark and, in the fourth end, with the Danes leading by 5-3, Alexander Qvist attempted a triple take-out for three points. But he misjudged the angles and gave up a steal of one instead, to reduce his team’s lead to 5-4. Estonia then went on to win by 10-7.
Before losing to Sweden in their evening game, China had beaten Denmark by 9-6. Meanwhile, a 6-4 win over France in the evening session — when France’s Stephanie Barbarin was millimetres short with a final draw — confirms that Netherlands have avoided relegation.
Group B
In the only session of the day for Group B teams, joint leaders Canada and Italy both recorded wins to stay ahead of the field. Meanwhile, a fifth win so far for Scotland put them into third spot on their own as the battle for qualification slots continues.
Italy faced Switzerland and, in the third end of the game, with the score tied at 1-1, Italy’s Stefania Constantini played a hit to score four points and take a 5-1 lead. The Italians never looked back after this and went on to win by 8-4, to maintain their position as joint leaders.
Meanwhile Canada were up against Germany. The Canadians established a 4-1 lead after three ends with a steal of three points. In the fifth end, with Canada now leading by 4-3, Kadriana Lott played a hit into a cluster of stones, to score two points and improve her team’s lead to 6-3. Canada then went on to win by 7-4 to share top spot with Italy.
Speaking afterwards, Colton Lott identified the steal of three as the turning point, “That definitely gave us control of the game.”
He said, “Once we had the lead, we never let go. It was a great way to start strong.”
Scotland faced Hungary in this session and, in the fifth end and already holding a 7-4 lead, Scotland’s Katie McMillan played a well-judged draw to score three more points and improve their lead to 10-4. The Scots went on to win by 11-5, to sit in a clear third place on the table.
The Scots had opened with a score of five in the first end and, about that, Angus Bryce said, “We caught onto the changes in the stones’ performance earlier than them, that was the difference in the first end, and that helped.”
Korea faced a United States team still looking for their first win. The Americans had the dream start in this game, drawing their last stone of the second end to score five and take a 5-2 lead.
But by the seventh end, Korea had carved out a 9-6 lead and when United States’ Rach Kawleski draw attempt for two caught a front stone and gave up a steal of two instead, Korea’s lead improved to 11-6. The Americans then ran out of stones in the eighth end to give Korea an 11-6 win that puts them in joint fourth place and keeps their qualification hopes alive.
Speaking afterwards, Korea’s Jeong Yeongseok said, “We knew we needed to focus on our rocks. By the end of the game, we were getting better at that and in tomorrow’s game we’ll be better.”
The fifth game of the session saw Finland play Czechia. By the eighth end, Czechia led by 6-5. Finland’s Markus Sipila then attempted a double take-out, but misjudged the angles to give up a steal of one and hand Czechia an 8-5 win.
Seniors
In the men’s competition, seven of the ten teams have now qualified, and whether they progress straight to the quarter-finals or have to play in the qualification games will be determined once all teams have qualified. Today’s play saw Group A’s Canada and Slovenia, Group C’s Scotland and Group D’s Switzerland all qualify.
Qualification for the women’s quarter-finals are also almost complete, with Group A’s Canada, Group B’s Scotland and United States, Group C’s Japan, and Group D’s Germany and Switzerland all earning their spots.
All ACE & Company World Mixed Doubles games will be broadcast on the Curling Channel, however, there may be restrictions due to broadcast partner agreements.
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