New Zealand Curling

Jeonju, Korea – Japan won the Women's gold at the 2012 Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships at the Hwasan Ice Rink in Jeonju, South Korea on Thursday beating Korea 3-2 in the final. The Chinese Men had a 3-2 win over their Korean hosts in their gold medal match.

The New Zealand Junior Men and Women both finished 4th in the Double Round Robin and did not qualify for the medal rounds.

The PAJCC gold medals are a double honour. Not only are they crowned 2012 Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Champions, but they also secure the World Curling Federation Pacific-Asia places at the 2012 World Junior Curling Championships which will take place in Östersund, Sweden from 3-11 March.

For Japanese skip Sayaka Yoshimura and her team from Sapporo Curling Club on Hokkaido Island, it’s the second year in a row that they have won the Pacific-Asia title. They finished in 8th place at the World Juniors last year in Perth, Scotland.

For Chinese Men's skip Xiuyue Ma, it is also a second Pacific-Asia Gold. Ma, from Harbin Curling Club in China’s Heilongjiang province has moved up to skip from playing second last year. For his teammates, it was their first Pacific-Asia championship appearance.

The Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships 2013 will be hosted by Japan.

Final Standings

Men					Women
1st	(7-3)		China		1st	(7-2)		Japan
2nd	(7-2)		Korea		2nd	(7-3)		Korea
3rd	(6-3)		Japan		3rd	(6-3)		China
4th	(2-6)		New Zealand		4th	(2-6)		New Zealand
5th	(0-8)		Australia		5th	(0-8)		Australia

2012 World Junior Championships

Teams that have qualified for the World Junior Curling Championships 2012 are

Women:  Scotland (Gold 2011), Canada (Silver 2011), Russia (Bronze 2011), Sweden, USA, Switzerland, Norway, Czech Republic, Italy, Japan

Men:  Sweden (Gold 2011), Switzerland (Silver 2011), Norway (Bronze 2011), Canada, Scotland, USA, Finland, Czech Republic, Italy, China

• WCF Tournament page: http://www.wjcc2012.curlingevents.com
• Event Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/wjcc2012sweden

Results summary	Gallery
WCF Official Results:	Men     Women
NZ record at PAJCCs:	Men     Women
Tournament website	Tournament Schedule
Earlier Articles:	29 Jan – PAJCCs under way 30 Jan – NZ overwhelm Aussies 31 Jan – Kiwis face battle

Earlier Articles

Pacific-Asia Junior champs under way

29 Jan 2012, Jeonju, Korea – The 2012 Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships got underway at the Hwasan Ice Rink in Jeonju, South Korea on Saturday.

Five junior men’s and junior women’s teams from Australia, China, Japan, Korea and New Zealand are competing in the event.

New Zealand teams had no success on the first day.

The Kiwi men (Sam Miller, Michael Smith, Willie Miller, Liam Dowling) faced Japan in their first game and were level at 4-4 after eight of the ten ends. The Japanese successfully blanked the 9th, and then took a single with hammer in the last to win 5-4. NZ had a bye in the afternoon.

New Zealand's women (Chelsea Farley, Thivya Jeyaranjan, Tessa Farley, Kelsi Heath, Eleanor Adviento) were on the wrong end of two lopsided results. They lost 4-9 to China in the morning and then 2-10 to Korea in their second game.

A double round robin takes place through to Wednesday 1 February followed by semifinals and finals on Thursday.

The winners of the junior men’s and women’s championships will qualify as the Pacific-Asia representatives at this year’s World Junior Curling Championships, in Östersund, Sweden from 3-11 March.

NZ Men overwhelm Australia

30 Jan 2012 – The New Zealand Mens' team ran hot on Sunday afternoon to record their first win at the 2012 Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships in Jeonju, Korea.

They stole a whopping 6 in the third end and led Australia 10-1 after five ends, and the Aussies conceded in the sixth.

However WCF rules state that a 10-end game must complete at least the sixth end, so the final result was recorded as W-L in the Kiwis' favour – but the win still stands.

The success was a welcome relief for the NZ camp after they lost 3-6 to China in the morning session of the second day, following a one-pont loss against the Japanese the day before.

The New Zealand women are winless after 3 games. They went down 2-8 to Korea in the morning round and had a bye in the afternoon.

A double round robin continues through to Wednesday, followed by semifinals and finals on Thursday.

Kiwis face battle to qualify

31 Jan 2012 – After 5 of the 8 games of their double round robin draws at the 2012 Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships, both New Zealand teams face an uphill struggle to reach the semi-finals.

The NZ Men and Women will both need to win at least 2 and possibly all 3 of their remaining games in Jeonju, Korea if they are to qualify.

Sam Miller's team suffered their second one-point loss to the Japanese yesterday. Two 3-point ends had the Kiwis looking good at 8-7 ahead coming into the final end, and with last stone advantage. But Japan applied the pressure and stole a double to win 9-8.

Earlier in the day they lost 4-7 to an efficient Korean side.

Chelsea Farley's under-21 women secured their first win in the morning, a 15-2 thumping of their Trans-Tasman rivals Australia. However they were well beaten 10-4 by China in the afternoon.

A double round robin continues through to Wednesday, followed by semifinals and finals on Thursday.