Europeans semi-final line-ups confirmed as round robin nears conclusion in Ostrava

The semi-final line-ups were confirmed on day four of the Le Gruyère AOP European Curling Championships 2026, with Scotland, Italy, Sweden and hosts Czechia securing their places in the men’s playoffs.

In the women’s competition, Latvia claimed the final semi-final spot with a comeback victory over Italy, joining Switzerland, Sweden and Scotland in the final four.

With the women’s round robin coming to a close on Friday evening, attention now turns to the knockout stages, while the men’s teams prepare for their final round-robin games on Saturday morning.

Men’s Competition

Scotland, Italy, Sweden and Czechia all secured their places in the men’s semi-finals on day four of the competition.

Skipped by Grant Hardie, Scotland booked their spot in the playoffs with a 10-3 victory against Austria.

Afterwards, Scotland skip Hardie said,

“It’s a great feeling to qualify in four. It’s nice to take that little bit of pressure off us for the Italy game tomorrow, but we still want to go out there and play like any other game and finish the round robin unbeaten.”

Italy also confirmed their place in Saturday’s playoffs, defeating Netherlands 8–2.

The Italians made a positive start, scoring two points in the opening end before adding another two in the third and stealing a single point in the fourth to establish a 5–1 advantage at the break.

Scotland and Italy take to the ice tomorrow morning, with the winners earning top spot in Group A.

In Group B, defending champions Sweden secured their place in the semi-finals with an 8-7 victory over hosts Czechia, with the hosts also confirming their spot in the next stage.

In an evenly-matched encounter, the Swedes clinched victory with the game going to an extra end.

On qualifying, Sweden skip Oskar Eriksson said,

“It was an up-and-down game and we really had to battle for the win. I think it’s huge [to win our group] and it will be a good warm-up against Poland, going into the playoffs.”

Czechia skip Lukas Klima said,

“We believed we would qualify for the playoffs, because we played so strongly in the first three games. It’s a relief now it’s official, but right now we are disappointed we could not win against Sweden and finish first in the group.”

Elsewhere, Belgium and Norway claimed their first victories of the competition, defeating Germany 6–4 and Spain 8-6 respectively.

Switzerland were also victorious as they were 6-2 winners over Poland.

All men’s results and standings.

Women’s Competition

The women’s round-robin stage drew to a close on Friday, with Latvia the final side to secure their place in the semi-finals.

Latvia confirmed their qualification with an impressive 8-6 comeback victory over Italy in Friday morning’s session, joining Switzerland from Group A in the final four.

After falling 4–0 behind in the opening two ends, Latvia responded with two points in the third before stealing four in the fourth to take the lead. The Latvians went on to secure the victory, moving to three wins and one defeat.

Speaking afterwards, Latvia skip Evelina Barone said:

“It feels good to qualify, but we know the work isn’t done yet. We’re preparing for tomorrow to put up a fight. We’ve played against Sweden and Team Wranaa before, so we know we have to bring our best game and use the chances they might give us.”

Switzerland, who had already secured qualification from Group A, faced Latvia in the final session, with both teams looking to finish their round-robin campaigns on a high. The Swiss finished as 8-2 winners.

In Group B, defending champions Sweden completed a perfect round-robin campaign, recording five victories from five games.

Sweden finished with a 9-5 victory over Türkiye, having already secured their semi-final place the previous day.

Scotland also concluded their round-robin campaign with a win, defeating Lithuania 7–5 to finish with four victories and one defeat. Skipped by Fay Henderson, Scotland join Sweden in the semi-finals from Group B.

Elsewhere, hosts Czechia recorded their first victory of the championship with a 6–3 win over Germany in Friday morning’s session, before they concluded their round-robin campaign against Norway.

All women’s results and standings.