Australia and Norway make perfect starts at World Mixed Doubles

Round-robin play got underway at the ACE & Company World Mixed Doubles and World Senior Curling Championships 2026 at the Centre Sportif Sous-Moulin in Geneva, Switzerland.

Group A

At the close of the first day, Group A had played two games, and unbeaten Australia and Norway shared the lead.

In their morning game, Australia beat China. By the sixth end, Australia held a 7-4 lead, and when Tahli Gill played a double take-out, to score five more points and take a 12-4 lead. China then conceded.

Australia’s evening game against Japan was a much tighter affair, and a missed double take-out attempt by Gill in the seventh gave Japan a score of two to tie the game at 5-5. After this, Gill played a raise take-out in the eighth end to score two and win the game by 7-5.

Tahli Gill, Australia © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

Afterwards, Australia’s Dean Hewitt said, “The day was pretty good. This morning we started out very strong and worked out the ice pretty early and tried to just focus on how the ice was shot-to-shot. In that game against Japan, they took it to us and that was a good battle the whole way. They had a bit of a come-back, but we just made sure we had the hammer coming to the last end.”

Tahli Gill added, “There were a couple of steals there, so it was easy to get frustrated, but we stayed pretty calm.”

In their morning game, Norway faced Netherlands. As the teams played the eighth end, Norway held a 6-3 lead. Netherlands’ Lisenka Bomas then attempted to score three to level the game but could only secure one point, and this gave the Norwegians an opening 6-4 win.

Eilin Kjaerland, Norway © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

After this game, Norway’s Eilin Kjaerland said, “It’s always nice to start with a win and we had a good start there too in that game.”

Norway came back onto the ice to face Denmark in their evening game. By the fifth end of this game, Denmark held a 3-1 lead. But Norway’s Eilin Kjaerland then played a hit and stay to score four points, and take a 5-3 lead. Norway then went on to win by 7-6, to share the lead with Australia.

Behind the two Group leaders, six teams have a split won one, lost one record.

Estonia recovered from an opening 0-9 loss to Japan, to beat Sweden by 7-6.

In their morning game, Japan had built a 7-0 lead by the fifth end. Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee then attempted a hit for two, but got the angles wrong, to give up a steal of one point to improve Japan’s lead to 8-0. Japan then went on to win by 9-0 in just six ends.

Koana Tori, Japan © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

Afterwards, Japan’s female player Koana Tori said, “This is our first time at this level. We just decided to focus on our shots one by one and it worked!”

Estonia then played Sweden. In the fifth end of this game, Estonia led by 3-2 when Kaldvee played a hit to score three more points and improve her lead to 6-2. Estonia went on to record their first win.

Harri Lill and Marie Kaldvee, Estonia © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

France had beaten Denmark by 8-5 in their morning game. France were 7-0 up after just three ends and then, as the teams played the sixth end, France still held a 7-4 lead. Stephanie Barbarin then had a chance to score four more points, but caught a guard with her last stone and, after an umpire’s measure, had to settle for just one point and an 8-4 lead. However, France still went on to win by 8-5.

Afterwards, Barbarin said, “We are very happy to get this first win. We knew we had all the skill to make it. The first three ends were amazing, and then they started to play a bit better, but we managed to make it to the end.”

Stephanie Barbarin, France © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

Later, France faced China and this time round, China won, by 8-4.

New Zealand were unfortunate to be on the losing side in both of their games on Saturday. They lost by 12-3 to Sweden and then, in a tight game to Netherlands by 8-9.

These results mean that New Zealand and Denmark are still looking for their first wins.

Group B

The ten teams of Group B only had one game in Saturday’s opening day of round-robin play, and in that session, defending champions Italy started the defence of their title with a 7-5 win over Czechia.

They opened with a score of two in the first end, when Stefania Constantini made a draw onto the four-foot ring. They then had a break-through in the fourth end with a single steal for a 5-2 lead when Czechia’s failed hit-and-roll left an Italian stone counting on the button.

Stefania Constantini, Italy © World Curling / James Roberts

The Italians sustained a 5-4 lead in the sixth end until Constantini played a raise take-out to score two more points and extend their lead to 7-4. Italy went on to win 7-5.

Afterwards, Constantini said, “That was a good game and a good way to start our defence. The first game is always a little bit tricky, but I think we did a good job out there — we were in control.”

Scotland were the big winners in this session, defeating United States by 12-2. Katie McMillan opened with a draw for five points in the first end and then, in the fifth, now ahead by 7-1, she played a nose-hit to score five more points and take a comfortable 12-1 lead. The Americans conceded after the sixth end, with Scotland winning by 12-2.

Katie McMillan, Scotland © World Curling / James Roberts

Afterwards, McMillan said, “The ice has been good yesterday and today, so it’s easy to play well on good ice.”

Meanwhile her partner Angus Bryce spoke about their flying-start first end, “We got everything piled into the four-foot. First end of the championships, so you’ve just got to ask the question, and it paid off.”

He added, “As soon as we got going [there were] no nerves and we just feel really comfortable out there.”

Switzerland played Germany in this session. By the sixth end, the Swiss led by 4-2 when, using their Power Play, Germany’s Kim Sutor played a hit to score two points and level the game to 4-4. The Germans did not hold the lead at any point in the game until they finally came through in the eighth end, scoring three points to win by 7-6.

Afterwards, the Germans admitted they had started poorly. Sutor said, “We had a rough start, but we just stayed patient and finished the game.”

Her partner Sixten Totzek agreed, “We had trouble in the first five ends — just small problems, but we made it in the eighth end.”

Sixten Totzek, Germany © World Curling / James Roberts

Finland faced Hungary in this session. In the fourth end, Hungary led by 2-1 when Finland’s Lotta Immonen played a draw onto the button in a busy house to score one point and level the game at 2-2. After this, Finland went on to win by 5-4.

In the fifth game of the session, Canada opened against Korea. By the eighth end, Canada held a 6-4 lead when their female player Kadriana Lott played a double take-out to blank the end, and win the game by 6-4.

Afterwards Lott said, “Usually at a big event like this you’re nervous. It was good to have a strong start. There are areas we’re going to work on but now we feel more comfortable.”

Kadriana Lott, Canada © World Curling / James Roberts

Seniors

After three sessions of play in the World Senior Curling Championships, four of the six men’s Groups have seen action, while more than half of the women‘s teams have now played.

In the women’s event, defending champions Scotland were 6-4 winners over England. Other winning women’s teams included Canada, who beat Philippines by 10-1; United States — 8-4 winners over Korea; and Norway, who beat France by 11-5. Lithuania were 14-5 winners over Denmark.

Team Lithuania © World Curling / James Roberts

In the men’s event, first-time winners included Czechia, who beat Germany by 14-2; Australia, 8-4 winners over Finland; Hungary, who beat Slovakia by 6-3; and Spain, who beat Denmark by 5-4.