Canada on cusp of playoffs at mixed doubles curling worlds with 10-4 win over China

Colton and Kadriana Lott, pictured in 2021, stay undefeated at the world mixed doubles curling championship in Sweden on April 21, 2024. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

Östersund, Sweden — Facing a second straight loss at the world mixed doubles curling championship, Canada's Kadriana and Colton Lott dug in and got "scrappy."

The Lotts are on the verge of locking up a playoff spot after posting a 10-4 win over China on Wednesday in a match they turned on its head after struggling early.

The husband-and-wife team from Gimli, Man., were down 4-2 through four ends to China's Ying Yang and Jiafeng Tian but rebounded in the second half, putting the game away with a steal of four in the eighth end.

"We knew we had to pick it up and obviously keep our minds and heads in the game," Kadriana Lott said. "The last half of the game, we just had to shake the first couple ends off and move forward; we knew we could still win it."

The Lotts improved to 6-1 and need one win over their final two group-stage games Thursday to move on to the playoff round.

It didn't look promising earlier for the Canadians, who had their unbeaten record blemished with a loss to Sweden in Tuesday's late draw.

China (3-4) responded to Canadian singles in the first and third ends with deuces in the second and fourth.

In the fifth, Canada missed a chance to take the lead when a draw for three was heavy and the Lotts settled for one point.

Colton Lott said the Canadians needed to "be scrappy out there," and they responded with three straight steals.

Canada took advantage of some Chinese misses to get the game-tying steal in the sixth end. They followed with a steal of two in the seventh before their big eighth end.

"That's what you have to do in any (curling) discipline, and (mixed doubles) for sure because you only have so many rocks to come back with," Colton Lott said. "If you keep your head back there (dwelling on past misses), it makes it really hard to claw back like we just did."

Canada remained in second place in Group B behind host Sweden, which improved to 7-0 and locked up a playoff spot with a 7-6 win over Australia.

The Lotts play Australia (2-5) and the United States (4-3) on Thursday.

"Just get a last couple of wins," Kadriana Lott said. "I think that puts us in a great mindset and gets us ready for the weekend."

   This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2024.