Geneva makes history with World Curling’s first ever Pro-Am event

Saturday saw another first for Geneva at the ACE & Company World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2026 — World Curling’s first-ever Pro-Am competition.

Elite athletes meet sponsors and community curlers

Between the qualification games and the semi-finals, four teams took to the ice. Each team featured one elite athlete, playing with a combination of novice sponsors and local club members, including a couple of wheelchair curlers.

Team Kaldvee vs Team Kjaerland © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

Two of the teams represented event sponsors ACE & Company:

Pablo Lachat of Switzerland skipped Chloe Said, Fabrice Hubmann and Adam Said.

Marie Kaldvee of Estonia skipped Chana Beitone, Ben Luzuy and Christina Winkler-Dubois.

The other two teams were drawn from the Geneva curling community:

Eilin Kjaerland of Norway skipped Gilbert Guillot, Cath Crottaz and Murad Mirza.

Alexander Qvist of Denmark skipped Michel Bernard, Isabelle Champion and Michelle Borner Jaquet.

After semi-finals and a final, Team Lachat emerged as winners.

Team Lachat, winners of the first World Curling Pro-Am © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

Inclusivity at the heart of it

With a first successful event in the bag, work will now be done to develop the concept, led by World Curling’s Commercial Strategy Lead James Beatt.

He said, “It’s really important for the federation to send a message to its communities, and there’s one thing that this sport does better than any other, and that’s inclusivity. Whether you’re very young or very old… you can play in a wheelchair, it’s very easy to have a go.”

And he emphasised, “The message we keep getting told is ‘I want to have a go’. So, the Pro-Am is the first step. In this way, the sport is being unbelievably inclusive.”

Team Qvist © World Curling / James Roberts

World Curling President Beau Welling gave out the prizes afterwards. His background is in the world of golf, which is the home of Pro-Am competitions.

He said, “Pro-Ams are massive for golf and golf tournaments. They allow the fans to engage directly with players in a way that’s totally different. At the same time, it gives the athletes a chance to engage with fans. It’s a great opportunity to do something in sport that’s fun but allows for connections.”

Turning to the possibilities for curling, he said, “I think organisers and ourselves need to see that this is something worth doing. And athletes can see this as a way to promote the sport. What happened here was amazing and we can build on it. These people had such a great time.”

World Curling President Beau Welling presents prizes © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

Stewart Dryburgh is President of the local organising committee in Geneva and he said, “This was a World Curling idea, and we said we’d do it as long as it did not get in the way for the athletes. We found a time with a couple of sheets that are no longer being used. We got sponsors involved, and members of the club, and they are just smiling from ear to ear. I think we can tick this off as a big success.”

Marie Kaldvee from Estonia was one of the elite players taking part, and she said, “I think it was lots of fun. It was great to play with people from the club who have never got to play on arena ice. They were having fun and I was having fun. I think World Curling should do more of this… it’s bringing more attention to curling.”

Chane Beiteone was on Marie’s team and she said, “Marie was really nice and a nice player. I enjoyed it all.”

Marie Kaldvee, Estonia and her team © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

A model worth building on

Adam Said was not only one of the players from the sponsors taking part, he is a co-founder of ACE & Company, and he was full of praise for this event and the championship as a whole.

He explained, “When we heard the world championship was coming here, we said ‘what support can we bring?’, so we’re very excited to see all this. It’s good fun. We’d be very happy to support the sport more. We see more young people coming in and the sport is getting more and more professional which is fun.”

A great game © World Curling / Ansis Ventins

He added, “The company is really looking to support the Geneva curling community. We’re happy to see the name so well covered at an event like this and to be supporting the sport. It’s great fun, we enjoy the type of people that you meet. It’s very diverse and it’s unlike the usual sporting event.”

So, from all angles, it seems that Geneva’s first-ever World Curling Pro-Am was a success. So, the question is… where’s next?

All Pro-Am teams © World Curling / James Roberts

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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