Canada’s Team Lott advances to semifinals at 2026 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — Canada’s Kadriana and Colton Lott are feeling an immense amount of pride on Thursday night.

Proud of each other. Proud of their play. And proud of the fact that they are advancing to the semifinals at the 2026 ACE & Company World Mixed Doubles Championship.

The married couple from Gimli, Man., secured their spot by defeating Switzerland’s Team Stefanie Berset/Philipp Hoesli (5-4) 10-5 at Centre Sportif Sous-Moulin.

“Couldn’t be more proud. I think it makes it better that we’re teammates, we’re a couple, we’re partners,” Kadriana said. “It’s great to do what we do and to travel and play on this surface together. It’s a huge feeling.”

“Sharing it all with her, there are no words that can describe it,” Colton said.

With national coaches Scott Pfeifer and Viktor Kjell, Canada finished atop Pool B with an 8-1 round-robin record, earning a bye to Friday’s semifinals at 1 p.m. (all times ET).

Canada will face the winner of the qualification game between Sweden’s Team Therese Westman/Robin Ahlberg (7-2) and Scotland’s Team Katie McMillan/Angus Bryce (6-3).

Australia’s Tahli Gill/Dean Hewitt (8-1) claimed the semifinal bye for topping Pool A. They will play the winner of Italy’s Team Stefania Constantini/Amos Mosaner (7-2) and Japan’s Team Tori Koana/Go Aoki (7-2).

Canada opened strongly, scoring three in the first end. Switzerland’s missed double left Kadriana with a hit for the early lead. Canada then stole two more in the second after a Swiss draw was heavy through the four-foot.

“It gave us all the comfort going into the next few ends. It gave us that full control, and we could play with the strategy,” Colton said. “Even if we gave up two, it’s not a detriment to what we’re trying to do out there. We just kept putting shots together and keeping that pedal down.”

After trading twos in the third and fourth ends, Switzerland capitalized on its power play in the fifth. Canada’s attempted double only removed one stone, allowing Switzerland to draw for three and close the gap.

Canada answered with two in the sixth to maintain their lead. Kadriana secured the points with a precise hit-and-roll, removing a Swiss stone from the four-foot.

This marks Team Lott’s deepest run at worlds; in 2024, they were eliminated in the qualification game. Now, bypassing that stage, they are guaranteed to play for a medal—either gold on Saturday at 8 a.m. or bronze earlier at 4 a.m.

“You hope to be in this position, but it’s a battle out there, and the teams are all good,” Kadriana said. “Plus, it’s mixed doubles; anything can happen. But this is a great feeling. I’m proud of what we’ve done this week, and we’ve shown how resilient we can be.”

That resilience showed earlier when Canada earned a 6-5 extra-end win over Czechia’s Team Petra Klimova/Lukas Klima (3-5) to qualify for the playoffs.

Kadriana’s final shot narrowly avoided a guard, securing the win after a back-and-forth game in which Czechia held the late advantage.

“I was a little nervous on that one because my first shot in that end, I was quite heavy and quite wide,” Kadriana said. “So I knew I needed to tone it back a bit, and then [Colton] could just guide it in there, which he did perfectly, it was a big team shot.”

With that win, Canada became the first Pool B team to qualify for the playoffs.

For the latest scores, draws, and team lists, visit the event’s official scoring website.

Live streaming of games is available on World Curling’s live streaming platform, The Curling Channel.

This story will be available in French as soon as possible at: https://www.curling.ca/fr/nouvelles-media/