Eight Ends Now in Euro, World Junior Curling

Tuesday’s launch of the 2026 European Curling Championships marks a milestone for World Curling.

For the first time, adult competitors in regular fours women’s and men’s curling will play eight ends in a major competition.

The shootout in Ostrava – not far from the Polish border – will be the first World Curling competition to move to eight ends outside of mixed, senior and mixed doubles event play.

The switch to eight ends also comes to the 2027 World Junior championships at Aberdeen, Scotland in February.

If you know the history of eight ends and the WCF, the organization has flirted with making the change for over 25 years, but have never made the jump.

They first held a vote during the combined men’s and women’s worlds at Saint John, N.B. in 1999, and it was pure chaos. I know this because I was there. 

WCF president Gunther Hummelt pleaded for eight ends, saying while he “didn’t mean to interfere” it was all but imperative the WCF delegates “do a favour for TV coverage” and vote for the change.

“(Canada) you have to listen to us,” Hummelt implored. “I don’t understand the problem. Canada can still have 10 ends, other countries might need eight. Please don’t compete against 10 ends in the Olympics.” 

I wondered in that moment if Hummelt had promised television – or perhaps the International Olympic Committee – that he would get the rule changed.

Canada was obstinate in its opposition, with its delegates waving player petitions against the change and claiming they would lose up to $500,000 in television revenues. 

Scotland asked WCF if this vote would be for eight ends at the Olympics only or if all world competitions were included and, amazingly, the WCF refused to clarify.

The vote itself was 36 against eight ends and 31 in favour. The winning bloc included Canada, the U.S., Scotland (which earned a Canadian abstention from another defeated vote, mandatory TV microphones for all players), England, Brazil, Czechia, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand.

The eight-end vote was led by the Scandinavian nations plus Japan, Korea and Wales but two of the six Swiss delegates broke ranks and voted no, while two of the four German delegates abstained, along with Austria.

There was another vote in Cortina d’Ampezzo in 2010, and again the 10-end brigade was successful in maintaining the status quo. Those meetings were overshadowed by the successful presidential coup led by Kate Caithness.

There was to be another vote during the 2019 annual Congress but, at the last minute, the vote was removed from the agenda. All signs had indicated World Curling was ready for eight ends – and we even published the expectation on the front cover of our April issue.

Oops.

Now we have World Curling kicking off the “majors” season with a high-profile eight-end competition. Does this mean we can expect eight ends to be back on the voting agenda at the end of the current quadrennial, in 2030?

I’m not holding my breath. As a World Curling document once stated, “We know that if we reduce the number of ends for championship curling, it won’t be possible to go back, even if it turns out to be a poor decision.”

Then again, the same document goes on to list another comment: “Having now 13 teams at the worlds we also need to think of the athletes. Ten-end games are exhausting for them with more teams in the field.”

Um, guys? You’ve now, as of this coming spring, got a whopping 18 teams at the worlds for men’s and women’s fours.

Which leads to this: There are in fact a pile of other new rules and rule adjustments in store for 2026-27, plus the format change we just mentioned. We’ve already told you about one clarification on stone delivery – the abolition of the infamous Cortina Finger-Poke – but what else is on tap for this season? 

Stone delivery definition: A stone is now considered delivered when it reaches the delivery-end hogline, rather than the tee line. This creates a clearer definition of when a delivery has been completed.

Touching the stone during delivery: This is the aforementioned finger-poke rule. A player cannot touch the granite after the stone passes the delivery-end tee line and if they do, it is treated as a touched moving stone and removed from play.

Illegal sweeping – first offence: If an umpire observes illegal sweeping, the entire team receives an official warning. The warning therefore applies to all players, not just the sweeper involved.

Illegal sweeping – subsequent offence: After a warning, another illegal sweep gives the opposition a choice: accept the outcome of the shot, or remove the delivered stone and replace displaced stones. This prevents an automatic penalty from inadvertently benefiting the offending team.

Sweeping deliberately to slow a stone: Sweeping techniques whose purpose is to make a stone decelerate more quickly are prohibited. Sweepers can still sweep to increase distance, keep a stone straighter or influence curl, but cannot use techniques such as “knifing” specifically to “brake” the stone.

I’m a bit surprised World Curling didn’t articulate against the deliberate burning of stones, as happened quite infamously at the 2025 world men’s championship (perhaps they’re hoping the memory will just disappear?). I suppose the two “illegal sweeping” definitions above will deal with that.

Coach/team-official communication: Team officials may now communicate with players when their team is not delivering, provided the venue allows it. They cannot yell or distract the opposition, and communication during an LSD delivery remains prohibited.

Four-Player teams only: teams must start and continue every match with four players on the ice. If a team cannot field four players, they immediately forfeit the game.

(Numerous Canadian provinces have refused to implement this rule, such as Alberta and B.C., while multiple curling nations have allowed similar refusals in lower-tier domestic championships).

Player unable to finish an end: If a player becomes unable to deliver their stones, a team can immediately introduce its alternate, or temporarily continue with three players. If continuing with three, it must return to four players after the following complete end or forfeit; this can only happen once per game.

Mixed curling – losing a player: Mixed teams can similarly continue temporarily with three players, but must preserve the alternating gender delivery order (M-F-M or F-M-F). They must return to four players within the prescribed two-end period.

Mixed Doubles Positioned Guard: There are now four possible positions for the pre-positioned centre guard: 4 ft 6 in, 6 ft 6 in, 8 ft 6 in or 10 ft 6 in from the top of the house. Officials select the appropriate position for the ice before the game, and it remains fixed throughout that game.

Mixed Doubles Power Play: The Power Play guard uses the same distance from the house as the centre guard position selected for that sheet. This keeps the two pre-positioned guard arrangements consistent with the ice conditions.

Brush heads and substitutes: When a substitute enters, the team must continue using the brush heads previously assigned to the same playing functions or positions. Substitution therefore cannot be used to introduce a fresh brush head or strategically reallocate brush heads.

Team officials: Standard teams may now have up to three team officials; Mixed and Mixed Doubles can have two. This is primarily an accreditation and competition-management change rather than an on-ice rule.

Team Meeting / line-up administration: Final changes to registered players and officials must now be made by the start of the Team Meeting, rather than its conclusion. Team Meeting attendance requirements have also been simplified.

And, finally, the two major competition format changes:

World Championships: The men’s and women’s worlds expand from 13 to 18 teams, with two pools of nine. Pool winners advance directly to the semifinals, while second and third play crossover qualification games.

Eight-end championships: The European Championships and World Junior Championships move from 10-end to 8-end games.