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The pressure is on at the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, set to begin Saturday at Fredericton’s Willie O’Ree Place.

Not only are teams competing for medals, but they’re also looking to lock up spots for their countries in next year’s Winter Olympics in Milan/Cortina.

Seven countries will qualify based on the combined results from last year and this year’s world championships, with host Italy already guaranteed a spot.

Not all hope is lost if teams fall short in Fredericton. The two final spots will be decided at a last-chance Olympic Qualifying Event taking place in December in Kelowna, B.C.

Kadriana Lott and Colton Lott finished fifth for Canada at last year’s world championship in Sweden. Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant will represent Canada this time around after winning the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials earlier this season. Should Peterman and Gallant help Canada clinch an Olympic berth, the pair will be bound for Milan/Cortina.

Format

The 20-team field is split into two pools of 10 for round-robin play.

Group A consists of Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Scotland, South Korea and Sweden.

Group B consists of Australia, Czechia, Estonia, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States.

The top three teams from each group advance to the playoffs. The first-place teams receive byes to the semifinals with the second-place and third-place teams crossing over for the qualification games (i.e. A2 vs. B3, B2 vs. A3).

Teams to watch

The 20-team field is stacked, but with only six advancing to the playoffs, some very good squads are going to miss the cut.

Here are eight teams to keep an eye on.

Canada: Peterman and Gallant, ranked fifth in the world, are playing in their third World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship and aiming for Canada’s first gold medal in the event. They earned silver in 2019 and lost in a qualification game in 2023. Gallant, who plays second for skip Brad Jacobs, also represented Canada at the World Men’s Curling Championship this season in Moose Jaw, Sask., and took home bronze.

Estonia: Fool me once, shame on you. Don’t underestimate Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill as they upset Canada in the qualification games last year en route to earning silver medals. What’s in store for the encore? Kaldvee and Lill are ranked No. 1 in the mixed doubles world rankings this season.

Italy: Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner are the reigning Olympic champions. Although Italy is guaranteed an Olympic spot next year as the host, don’t think that means they have nothing to lose.

Norway: Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten are playing in their ninth World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship. They earned silver in 2021 and bronze medals in 2015 and 2024. The pair also captured bronze in mixed doubles at the Olympics in 2018 and silver in 2022.

Scotland: World men’s champion Bruce Mouat aims for another gold medal this season as he teams up with Jennifer Dodds. This is their third World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship together with gold medals in 2021. They also finished fourth at the Winter Olympics in 2022. Mouat captured the AMJ Players’ Championship men’s title earlier this month in Toronto and has been training with Dodds in Oakville, Ont.

Sweden: Siblings Isabella and Rasmus Wranå won the World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship last year on home ice, however, it’s Anna Hasselborg and Oskar Eriksson who will look to retain the title for Sweden. This is the second World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship together for Hasselborg and Eriksson as they’ll look to repeat their gold performance from 2019. Eriksson competed in mixed doubles at the 2022 Winter Olympics with Almida de Val and earned bronze.

Switzerland: Alina Pätz and Sven Michel are playing in their third World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship and earned medals in their previous two appearances. They captured gold in 2011 and silver in 2022. Pätz recently captured a second straight AMJ Players’ Championship women’s title with skip Silvana Tirinzoni while Michel finished runner-up on the men’s side with skip Yannick Schwaller.

United States: Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin are making their second World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship appearance in three years after claiming gold in 2023. Thiesse and Dropkin won the U.S. Mixed Doubles Curling Olympic Trials in February and, like Peterman and Gallant, will be looking to punch their tickets to Italy.