30 April 2026
Qualification games set at ACE & Company World Mixed Doubles and World Seniors 2026
After 18 sessions of round-robin play, the teams who will compete for the remaining semi-final spots at the ACE & Company World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2026 have been confirmed.
Group B
The Group B round-robin programme finished with Canada in top spot to qualify directly for the semi-finals. Italy and Scotland qualified for the play-offs, while United States finished bottom and are relegated to next season’s B- Division.
Canada faced Czechia in their morning game which went to an extra end, tied at 5-5. In that end, Canada’s Kadriana Lott played a tap-out and stay on the button to score the one point that gave the Canadians a 6-5 win.
In their evening game, the Canadians faced a Switzerland team still in the running for a play-off place. In the sixth end, the Canadians held a 7-5 lead when Kadriana Lott made a double take-out to score two more points and move the Canadian lead onto 9-5. The final score in this game saw Canada win by 10-5 and they finished top of the Group to go straight to the semi-finals, while Switzerland finished fourth and out of the play-offs.
After their win against the Swiss, Kadriana Lott said, “We were throwing some good stones and making some good shots, but we knew we had to stay on top of it. Mixed doubles can creep back upon on you, so we just kept playing and trying to be dominant out there.”
Italy started the day in second place on the rankings, and faced Korea in their morning game. In this tight game, Italy led by 5-4 as the teams played the eighth end. Korea’s Kim Seon-Yeong then played a hit to score three points and win the game by 7-5.
Italy then came back onto the ice to face Scotland, whose 8-3 morning win over Germany had moved them into third place on the rankings.
In the seventh end, Scotland held a 5-4 lead when Italy’s Stefania Constantini had a chance to score five points with a hit. However, her shooter rolled out and the Italians had to settle for just four points from the end and an 8-5 lead.
The Scots scored three in the eighth end to level at 8-8 and force an extra. Italy then produced a score of two in the extra end when Scotland’s last take-out attempt went wrong, to win by 10-8.
Italy finished in second place in the Group, while Scotland finished third. They both now qualify for the play-offs, where Italy will face Japan, and Scotland will play Sweden.
Afterwards, Stefania Constantini said, “That was a really good game to end the round robin. We were fighting to get this win home. It was a really important game for both teams, for us to take this win home to keep the momentum going.”
Her partner Amos Mosaner added, “We’ll try to be in shape tomorrow morning and focus. We played a good game tonight but we can adjust and play a little better.”
United States had recorded their first win of the event in their morning game, beating Hungary by 8-6 while Finland went down by 5-8 to Switzerland. This meant that the evening game between the Americans and the Finns was a sudden-death decider, with the loser relegated to next season’s B- Division.
In the sixth end, Finland led by 8-4 when American male player Connor Kauffman played a draw. He was slightly off target and gave up a steal of three to increase the Finnish lead to 11-4. United States then conceded to finish bottom of the Group. They are now relegated, while Finland face a relegation play-off against New Zealand on Friday 1 May.
In other evening games, Czechia beat Korea by 10-4 to leave the Koreans ranked fifth and the Czechs sixth.
Hungary beat Germany by 6-5. This game was tied at 5-5 after eight ends to force an extra end. And in that end, Hungary’s Dorottya Udvardi-Palancsa played a raise take-out to score the one point that gave the Hungarians a 6-5 win. Hungary finished eighth in the Group and now face a relegation play-off game against France, while Germany ranked seventh overall.
Group A
The Group A teams concluded their round-robin programme with one game on Thursday afternoon.
Already-qualified Group leaders Australia had a battle on their hands against Norway, and this game went all the way to an extra end. In that end, Australia’s Tahli Gill eventually played a hit and stay on a Norwegian stone to score one point for a 6-5 win. Australia now go directly to the semi-finals, avoiding the qualification round.
After the game, Dean Hewitt said, “It’s a good feeling being in the semi-finals again. We’ve been together for seven years and we’ve been to semi-finals three times, so now we want to keep going. We’ve had the taste of fourth and third so we want to keep pushing as hard as we can now.”
His partner Tahli Gill added, “We’re feeling good and we’re enjoying it.”
When asked if they had any preferred semi-final opponent, she said, “It’s tricky to think too far ahead. That’s probably the worst thing we can do. All the teams are good.”
Sweden played France in this session, with the Swedes looking to seal a place in the play-offs and the French trying to avoid finishing last and facing automatic relegation.
As the teams played the second end, Sweden already held a 4-0 lead. And in that end, France’s Stephanie Barbarin attempted a hit but caught a front guard, handing Sweden a steal of six points for a 10-0 lead. This put the game beyond France, and Sweden eventually won by 15-6 to qualify for the play-offs while France now go into a relegation play-off.
Speaking afterwards, Sweden’s Therese Westman said, “We feel very good about that. I hoped we would qualify and I think we have the quality for it.”
Robin Ahlberg added, “That was a very good game. We had a very good start and now we’ve got to be precise with every shot and just keep going, just like every other team. We came here just to do our thing.”
Japan faced Denmark, with the Danes trying to avoid last place, and the Japanese looking to confirm a place in the play-offs.
In the seventh end, already ahead by 9-3, Japan scored three more with a hit and stay and Denmark conceded, giving Japan a 12-3 win that puts them into the play-offs. This result means that Denmark finished bottom in the Group and are now relegated to next season’s B- Division.
Speaking later, Japan’s female player Koana Tori said, “We weren’t sure how we would do before we came here, but we wanted to test our skills. This is our first mixed doubles event, so it’s really good. We were a little lucky yesterday against Norway, but we’ve done our best. Today’s game was not bad, not our best game but not bad. Now we need to prepare for the qualification game.”
New Zealand played China in this session. In the seventh end, with the New Zealanders ahead by 5-4, Jessica Smith played a nose-hit, to score five points and take a 10-4 lead. China then conceded. This result means that New Zealand are now in a relegation play-off while China finished sixth in the Group.
Speaking afterwards, Jessica Smith said, “We just went out there and tried to work on the things we’ve been working on. We’ll try to bring that to the relegation game.”
Her brother Ben Smith said, “Today was about building confidence and putting in a performance. Definitely an improvement on yesterday. We hope we can get on a roll now.”
In the fifth game of the session, Estonia beat Netherlands by 8-6 to finish in fourth place in the Group while the Dutch finished in seventh place to avoid relegation.
Seniors
In the men’s senior championship, the qualification picture has now been finalised.
United States, Switzerland, Scotland and Canada have all qualified to the quarter-finals, with another eight teams involved in qualification games.
In the quarter-finals, United States will play either Hungary or Norway; Switzerland will face either Austria or Slovenia; the Scots will be up against either Czechia or Germany; while Canada will play either Australia or England.
Find the play-offs bracket here.
In the women’s competition, the quarter-finals are now set.
Canada will face Lithuania, Germany will take on Sweden, Switzerland will play Scotland and United States will face Japan.
Find the play-offs bracket here.
All ACE & Company World Mixed Doubles games will be broadcast on the Curling Channel, however, there may be restrictions due to broadcast partner agreements.
Follow live scores and results here.
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