New Zealand Curling

A polished performance ensured Nicole Muskatewitz (Germany) and Michael Brunner (Switzerland) walked away with the Gold medal in the Mixed Doubles at the Innsbruck 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games.

They were too strong for Eunbi Kim (Korea) and Martin Sesaker (Norway), winning 13-2 after seven ends.

It was Brunner's second gold as he had skipped the Swiss to their Mixed Fours title earlier in the week. He admitted he had not predicted such a comfortable victory. "We expected to have fun," he said. "Not to get such a high score. I'm a little surprised, but we played really well."

His teammate was also shocked at the margin of victory, and over-joyed to have taken Gold. "I don't really have any feelings just yet," Muskatewitz said. "I'm so happy I'm almost confused."

The Bronze-medal match was a nail-biter in comparison, with the Russia/USA and Japan/Korea teams sitting at 5-5 after the regulation eight ends.

Russia's Marina Verenich made the winning shot in the extra end, and Korey Dropkin (USA) was full of praise for his teammate. "She threw a great last shot and it was all I could ask for, because it won us a Bronze medal. I was nervous, but I knew we'd come through."

Semi-Finals

In the earlier semifinals Brunner and Muskatewitz beat Verenich and Dropkin 7-3 in seven ends. Steals of single points in the first two ends and scores of two and three in the fourth and sixth ends helped Brunner, already winner of a Gold medal in the Mixed Team event, and his partner claim victory.

In the other semifinal, two Korean players came head to head, with Martin Sesaker and his Korean team-mate, Eunbi Kim winning 13-6 against Japan’s Mako Tamakuma and Minhyeon Yoo from Korea. A score of five in the second end set the pair on their way, never losing momentum as they picked up two steals in the last two ends, scoring one and three to seal the victory.

Medal ceremonies for the Mixed Doubles tournament, and the Mixed Fours from earlier in the week, were held immediately after the final games.

Gallery

NZ Curling YOG Blog    –    NZ Olympic Team Blog    –    Innsbruck 2012
	WCF Tournament site  –  Official Results
NZ Results:	Mixed Fours  –  Mixed Doubles
	Innsbruck2012 daily highlights
	NZ Olympic  –  WCF  –  Innsbruck2012
	NZ Olympic  –  WCF  –  Innsbruck2012