Latvia's Men's Curling Team Begins Final Warm-Up Event Before World Championship Qualifier

Latvia's men's curling team, led by Arnis Veidemanis, begins play on 22 October at the international Sundbyberg Open 2026 in Stockholm. Its first match, against a Swedish team skipped by Lindstrem, starts at 13:00 Latvian time. The event is the team's final warm-up before the world championship qualifier, to be held in Aberdeen, Scotland, from 8 to 13 November.

Tournament format

Twelve teams are competing. In the first stage they are split into three groups of four and play a round robin. The top eight teams advance to the quarterfinals, followed by the semifinals and the final. Teams that miss the top eight play off for places 9 to 12.

In the group stage the Latvians face three Swedish teams: Lindstrem's rink, Sumpan Seniors and Vederstad's rink. Title contenders include Lukas Hostmelingen's team from Norway (ranked 47th in the world) and Jakob Schmidt's four from Denmark (63rd). They are the only teams in the field from the world top 100.

Season so far

Latvia opened its season with a win at the international Riga Open, held at the Curling Hall in Riga on the first weekend of September. At the Tallinn Men's Challenger 2026 in late September, the team did not qualify for the title contests.

Lineup and schedule

The lineup is Arnis Veidemanis, Roberts Reinis Buncis, Janis Klive and Aleksandrs Baranovskis. The remaining group games are scheduled for 23 and 24 October. If the team qualifies for the knockout stage, those games are on Sunday, while the 9th to 12th place games are set for Saturday. The team's participation in the event is supported by Latvia's Ministry of Education and Science.