Canada’s Kadriana and Colton Lott have advanced to the semifinals at the ACE & Company World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, guaranteeing themselves a shot at a medal. The married couple from Gimli, Manitoba, defeated Switzerland’s Stefanie Berset and Philipp Hoesli 10-5 at Centre Sportif Sous-Moulin on Thursday.
Proud of Their Performance
“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.” Colton echoed her sentiments: “Sharing it all with her, there are no words that can describe it.”
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 (11 a.m. MT). They will face the winner of the qualification game between Sweden’s Therese Westman and Robin Ahlberg (7-2) and Scotland’s Katie McMillan and Angus Bryce (6-3).
Strong Start and Control
Canada opened strongly, scoring three in the first end after Switzerland missed a double. They then stole two more in the second, giving them “full control,” according to Colton. “It gave us all the comfort going into the next few ends. We could play with the strategy. 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, drawing for three to close the gap. Canada answered with two in the sixth, maintaining their lead as Kadriana executed a precise hit-and-roll to remove a Swiss stone from the four-foot.
Deepest Run at Worlds
This marks Team Lott’s deepest run at the world championship; 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 (8 a.m. MT) or bronze (4 a.m. MT). “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 was evident earlier when Canada earned a 6-5 extra-end win over Czechia’s Petra Klimova and Lukas Klima to qualify for the playoffs. Kadriana’s final shot narrowly avoided a guard, securing the win after a back-and-forth game. “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.”
Australia’s Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt (8-1) claimed the semifinal bye for topping Pool A and will face the winner of Italy’s Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner (7-2) and Japan’s Tori Koana and Go Aoki (7-2).
