NZ Curling

The New Zealand men will come home from the Karuizawa International Curling Championships in Japan with a 4th placing after an eventful last couple of days.

They played two tiebreakers on Saturday evening to earn their spot in the medal rounds but were beaten in their semi-final and the bronze medal game on Sunday.

They were level with Canada with two ends to play in their semi-final, but it was the Canadians who had control of the end game and went on to win 9-6.

The Kiwis didn't recover from a poor start in the playoff for 3rd and 4th against Korea. The Koreans were up 7-2 after just three ends and they shook hands at 12-5 after eight ends.

Canada dominated their final against Japan, winning the gold 10-3.

The withdrawal of both Chinese teams after the round robin meant that fifth place in the preliminary round was good enough to make the Men's and Women's playoffs.

The NZ Women finished 6th in the round robin section – Japan's last-end win in the final round put the Japanese into the medal games ahead of the Kiwis.

Canada took the Women's gold medal in a high-scoring final, handing the Swedish women their first loss of the tournament with an extra end 12-11 scoreline. Germany won the bronze 11-5 over Japan. 

Earlier articles

• 17 Jan 2010 – NZ Women off to Karuizawa
• 29 Jan 2010 – NZ Men well placed at Karuizawa
• 30 Jan 2010 – NZ Men eye semi-finals
• 31 Jan 2010 – The long road to the semi-finals

Opening Ceremony	Down time...
Pics courtesy of Karuizawa International CC		Does it look any better from here?

Earlier articles

NZ Women off to Karuizawa

17 Jan 2010 – A last-minute withdrawal from the women's draw of this month's Karuizawa Invitational Tournament has given the NZ Women's team the opportunity to participate.

Bridget Becker, Brydie Donald, Natalie Campbell and Kylie Petherick will now join the NZ Men's team in Japan at this event.

The Kiwi women will play teams from Canada, China, Germany, Japan (2), Korea and Sweden, with the top four playing off in the medal round. The Men's opponents are Canada, China, Germany, Japan (2), Korea and USA.

NZ Men well placed at Karuizawa

29 Jan 2010 – The NZ Men are well placed half way through the round robin section of the Karuizawa International tournament in Japan this week. They have a 2 win - 2 loss record, with three games to play.

The NZ Women have a 1-3 record, and have some work to do if they are to make the top four playoff round.

NZ Men opened their tournament on Wednesday with a last-end 5-4 loss to Canada.

The Kiwis played three games yesterday (Thursday). In the morning round they were level at 5-5 coming home against Japan but the hosts did what they needed to with hammer to win 7-5. That was followed by a 2-8 defeat against China.

They saved their best until last, taking multiples every time they scored for a 10-4 win over the Germans.

China and Canada lead the Men's competition with 3 wins, with NZ and Germany on 2 each.

The NZ Women lost their opening game to a strong Canadian side on Wednesday, going down 2-7.

Like the men, they had a long day yesterday. Their early match against the young Nagano Selection was tied up with two ends to play until the locals took 3 on the penultimate end. This left the Kiwis 3 down with hammer coming home, and needing to do something special. That's exactly what they did, scoring 4 and taking the game 7-6.

The results went against them in their last two games. The world champion Chinese beat NZ 7-3, and Germany scored 3 on the last end for a 7-5 win.

The Women's competition is led by Sweden with a 4-0 win-loss record, including wins over the Chinese and Japanese Olympic teams. Canada are at 3-1, while China and Germany have 2 wins each. NZ, Korea and Japan sit on 1 win.

Round robin games will continue through to Saturday evening, and the medals will be decided on Sunday.

NZ Men eye semifinals

30 Jan 2010 – The NZ Men have a good chance to make the top four playoffs in their final round robin game at the Karuizawa International tournament in Japan later today. They are currently sitting with a 3 win - 3 loss record, third equal on the table with Japan and Korea.

The NZ Women have a 2-4 record and still have a theoretical chance, albeit a very slim one, of making the semi-finals.

Both NZ teams had a win and a loss yesterday. The Men had a solid 6-4 win against the local Nagano Selection in the afternoon but would have been disappointed with a 4-5 loss to the Koreans last night.

A steal to Korea in the 6th end changed the flow of the match. The Kiwis took one on the next to tie the game up but Korea's hammer stone on the last got them home with the win.

They play the USA this evening, and there are plenty of possible permutations for the final points table depending on other results.

The NZ Women faced the unbeaten Swedish team in their first game, and despite being beaten 3-5 they should have been heartened by taking the game to the last end where Sweden ran the Kiwis out of rocks. Against Korea in the evening match, the New Zealanders scored a deuce with hammer on the last end to edge home 6-5.

They play Japan in their last game today. The final round robin games for both NZ teams start at 2:30 local time today (6:30pm NZT Saturday) – live scoring is available on the tournament website.

Any required tiebreakers will follow the last round and the medals will be decided tomorrow.

The long road to the semi-finals

30 Jan 2010 – It was a long afternoon and evening for the NZ Men yesterday, but they finished the day with a well-earned semi-final berth at the Karuizawa International tournament in Japan.

In an event organiser's nightmare, five Men's teams were tied for the final three semi-final places available, meaning a series of tiebreakers were required.

The Kiwis had the chance to qualify directly in their last round robin game, but the USA won 5-4 with the hammer stone in an extra end.

NZ played in the first 6-end tiebreaker between the teams with the best DSC (Draw Shot Challenge) against the Japanese, with Japan advancing after a 6-4 win. The Kiwis had a second life against Germany, and made no mistake with a well-judged 4-3 victory.

They play Canada in one Men's semi-final, and Korea take on Japan in the other.

It was a case of "so near yet so far" for the NZ Women in their last round robin match. Up 5-4 going into the last end but without hammer, the Kiwis could not prevent the Japanese scoring a deuce to take the match 6-5 and with it the final Women's semi-final spot. Japan are up against the unbeaten Swedish women in one semi, and Canada play Germany in the other.