Team Canada has clinched a playoff spot at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Oestersund, Sweden after finishing the preliminary round with an 8-1 record.
Kadriana Lott and Colton Lott secured second place in Group B with an 11-4 win over Australia in their penultimate round robin game on Thursday. They closed out the preliminary round later in the day with a huge 12-6 victory over Becca Hamilton and Matt Hamilton of the United States. Tied at six through six ends, the Canadian duo scored six in the seventh end to prompt handshakes from the American brother-sister pair.
With just one loss blemishing their week, the Lotts ended up with the same 8-1 record as Sweden. However, the Swedes held the tiebreaker for first place in the group after handing the Canadians their sole loss on Tuesday. Scotland took third place in the group with six wins and three losses.
Lott and Lott, a husband-wife duo from Gimli, Manitoba, are competing at their first world championship after winning the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Championship last month. They had twice been the runners-up at the national championship in 2018 and 2021.
They opened the worlds on Saturday with a 7-2 win in six ends against New Zealand. They were victorious twice on Sunday, defeating Czechia 8-3 in six ends before shutting out the Netherlands 11-0 in six ends. On Monday, the Lotts came away from a tight match against South Korea with a 6-4 win in seven ends.
There was a memorable moment in Tuesday’s morning’s first match when the Canadians put a score of six on the board in the seventh end against Scotland, giving them a 12-5 victory. But that evening, Sweden ended their undefeated run with the 6-5 win — the first Canadian game to go the full eight ends.
But the Lotts bounced right back on Wednesday, getting a 10-4 win over China that was finalized with a steal of four in the final end.
For the playoffs that start on Friday, Canada will cross over to play Estonia, who finished third in Group A with a 6-3 record. The winner will face Norway in the semifinals. The Norwegians got the bye from Group A after finishing with a 7-2 record. In the other qualification game, Scotland will play Switzerland, who also finished with six wins and three losses, to see who advances to take on Sweden in the semis.
The bronze and gold medal matches will take place on Saturday.
“This is where we have to be at our best and we know that going forward, we just have to leave it all out there and give it all we have, said Colton Lott.”
Canada has never won gold at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship since it was first held in 2008, a decade before mixed doubles debuted on the Olympic program at PyeongChang 2018.
Four Canadian duos have won world championship medals, most recently a silver by Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman in 2019. Kirk Muyres and Laura Walker won bronze in 2018 after Reid Carruthers and Joanne Courtney took silver in 2017. Sean Grassie and Allison Nimik won bronze back in 2009.
Last year, Jennifer Jones and Brent Laing finished fourth, as did Brad Gushue and Kerri Einarson in 2021.
Final placements at this year’s worlds will be combined with those of the 2025 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship to determine the first eight countries that will qualify for the Olympic mixed doubles curling tournament at Milano Cortina 2026.
