New Zealand Curling

Innsbruck, Austria – New Zealand's run in curling competition at Innsbruck ended after the remaining 2 Kiwis were eliminated in the second knockout round of the Mixed Doubles.

Luke Steele and his Swedish partner Johanna Heldrin were well beaten 10-3 in the first draw of the day. In the day's second draw of matches Kelsi Heath and her Canadian teammate Thomas Scoffin lost a thriller on the last shot of the game.

At the end of the first knockout round of the Mixed Doubles Curling Competition, all 16 nations involved in the curling event at the inaugural Winter Youth Olympic Games have at least one athlete who has made it through to the next round on Saturday.

Of the 4 Kiwis in action, 2 secured a win and so progressed to the second round – Kelsi Heath and her Canadian partner Thomas Scoffin, and Luke Steele with his Swedish teammate Johanna Heldin.

Innsbruck, Austria – Switzerland won the gold medal in the Mixed Fours Team Curling Competition at the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games. They beat Italy 6-4, so the Italians took the silver medal. Canada won the bronze in beating Sweden 6-4.

The medal games also determined the final make-up of the Mixed Doubles competition, where one male and one female player from different countries will play a knockout competition. New Zealand's four curlers will partner players from Canada, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland.

Eleanor Adviento's (NZL) eyes grew as wide as the Curling stone she was sweeping glided toward a crowded house in the eighth end against China at the Innsbruck 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games on Sunday.

The New Zealanders needed to score two points in that final end of their Mixed Curling match against the highly-rated Chinese and a picture-perfect shot secured their 7-6 triumph.

The first Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Camp, run jointly by the World Curling Federation and the New Zealand Curling Association, has just wrapped up at the Maniototo Curling International indoor rink in Naseby.

24 Junior curlers from Japan, Australia and New Zealand took part in the 6 day camp in early January – including junior athletes who will heading to Innsbruck, Austria for the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games this month.

The New Zealand team to compete at the 2012 World Men’s Curling Championship has been announced. The NZ Curling Association has confirmed that Peter de Boer, Sean Becker, Scott Becker, Kenny Thomson and Phil Dowling, with coach Peter Becker, will travel to Switzerland in March.

At last month's Pacific-Asia Championship in China the same side won the silver medal that qualified New Zealand for the World Championship for the first time since 2005.

Nanjing, China – New Zealand's curlers have ended a successful 2011 Pacific-Asia Curling Championship in China with one of their best results there in years.

The Kiwi men earned a silver medal in the final and – more importantly – entry into next year's World Men's Championship with their semi-final win. The NZ women also surprised with a bronze medal to complete an excellent final day for the squad.