Final 16!

Team Canada to face Team Netherlands in Round of 16 playoff match at 2024 World Mixed Curling Championship

Team Canada capped off an undefeated round robin campaign with an 8-5 win over Team New Zealand’s Brett Sargon Thursday at the 2024 World Mixed Curling Championship. 

The perfect 7-0 Canadians, made up of skip Shaun Meachem, vice-skip Kelly Schafer, second Chris Haichert, lead Teejay Haichert and coach Pat Simmons of Swift Current, Sask., earned the No. 2 playoff seed with the win and will now turn its efforts towards a Round of 16 playoff match against the No. 15 seed Team Netherlands (4-2), skipped by Simon Spits, Friday at 8 a.m., (all times Eastern). 

It’s a single-game elimination format from here on out at Curl Aberdeen, Scotland, and with medal hopes still hanging in the balance, pressure isn’t a consideration in Team Canada’s mind. 

“We are just focused on bringing our best game to each next game,” said vice-skip Kelly Schafer. “Trying to build on and learn from the previous game. The competition will only continue to get harder with the strongest teams remaining, so our focus will be on playing each shot as we see it.” 

In fact, Schafer says she and her team thrive in these types of situations. 

“We’re excited to get to the business-end of the week,” said Schafer. 

The business-end of the week, as Schafer describes it, shapes up with the quarterfinal going Friday at 2 p.m., after the Round of 16 match. The semifinal will be Saturday at 4 a.m., followed by the gold medal final at 10 a.m., the same day. 

Team Canada second Chris Haichert says that the support the team is receiving from fans while wearing the Maple Leaf has been astronomical, and that support has fueled this squad. 

“We’d like to say thanks for all the support we’ve received from friends and family back home, and right here in Scotland,” said Haichert. “It’s an honour and a privilege to represent Canada and we will continue to give it everything we’ve got until the last stone comes to rest.” 

Earning Round of 16 playoff berths alongside Team Canada are Team Sweden’s Simon Granbom (7-0), who will take on Team Scotland’s Neil Kennedy (4-3). Team Poland’s Borys Jasiecki (6-1) is pitted against Team Czechia’s Krystof Tabery (5-2), while Team USA’s David Falco (7-0) draws Team New Zealand’s Brett Sargon (4-3) and Team Switzerland’s Nora Wueest (6-1) goes against Team Ukraine’s Eduard Nikolov (5-2),  

On the bottom half of the Round of 16 bracket, Team Norway’s Martine Volland Roenning (6-0) clashes against Team Slovenia’s Gaber Bor Zelinka (5-2). 2023 World Mixed silver medallist Sergio Vez of Team Spain’s (6-1) takes on Team Italy’s Giorgia Maurino (5-2), while Team Canada, with a win Friday morning, is set to meet the victor of Team Japan’s Hinako Hase (4-2) versus Team Kazakhstan’s Abylaikhan Zhuzbay (6-1). 

Event information, rosters, and draw can be found at https://worldcurling.org/events/worldmixed/.    

All sheets and draws of the World Mixed Curling Championship will be available to stream live on The Curling Channel.