New Zealand Curling

NZCOE participant Mhairi-Bronté Duncan in Stockholm. Photo: Mhairi-Bronté Duncan

9 Oct 2019 – The NZCOE (New Zealand Curling Overseas Experience) is a new initiative from NZ Curling.

It is designed to provide our aspiring athletes with the opportunity to spend an extended period overseas, developing their skills and understanding of the game.

"We anticipate that by being fully immersed in a curling community in Canada or Europe, our athletes will both improve their ability, and importantly, return to New Zealand as strong advocates and teachers of our wonderful sport," explained Peter de Boer, NZ Curling's National Coach.

Auckland Mixed Doubles champions for 2019, Garion and Rebecca Long

10 Oct 2019 – Garion and Rebecca Long won a short and sharp 2019 Auckland Mixed Doubles Championship at Paradice Avondale last Sunday.

With the reality of ice hire costs making a traditional round-robin format unviable, the 8 teams competing started the evening with a random draw to find their opponents for the three preliminary four-end games.

After the preliminary rounds the Longs had a perfect 3-from-3 record, as did Sasha Goloborodko and Nikita Derevianko, so it was these sides who met in the final.

Grace Apuwai-Bishop skipped her Kavanagh College team to its third NZ Secondary Schools title. Photo NZ Curling / Janyne Fletcher

8 Oct 2019 – Kavanagh College won their third consecutive Girls' title at the NZ Secondary School Curling Championships in Naseby last weekend.

Kavanagh and top qualifiers Maniototo Area School had met twice in the preliminary double round robin, securing a win apiece.

As top qualifiers, Maniototo qualified directly to the final. The Kavanagh side first played St Hilda's Collegiate in the sole semi-final, winning 7-2.

Maniototo made a big start in the Championship final, scoring three in the first end. However the Kavanagh side – sisters Grace and Temika Apuwai-Bishop, Lucy Armstrong and Elizabeth Audas – came right back to score five in the second end, followed by two consecutive steals.

L-R Iain Craig, Dave Watt, Dan Mustapic and Hans Frauenlob

8 Sep 2019 – Hans Frauenlob, Dan Mustapic, Dave Watt and Iain Craig went undefeated to win the NZ Senior Men's Curling Championship in Dunedin over the weekend, but they had to work for their win.

In a tournament of two halves they were untroubled to win their first two games in the three-team competition. But both opponents picked up their game to push Team Frauenlob all the way in the second half of the double round robin.

Kenny Thomson, Phil Dowling, Dean Fotti and Ian Ford put 3 on the board in the second end to take an early lead, and Team Frauenlob didn't get their noses in front until they scored 3 with a measure in the seventh.

Gold medal match, Korea vs Australia 1. Photo © Winter Games NZ / Neil Kerr

31 Aug 2019 – Korea's Hyeji Jang and Yujin Seong won the gold medal at the QRC Winter Games NZ Mixed Doubles Curling Tournament fuelled by Forsyth Barr.

They beat Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt from Australia 7-4 in the final at Naseby's Maniototo Curling International rink this afternoon.

Therese Westman and Robin Ahlberg won the bronze medal for Sweden, beating USA's Tabitha Peterson and Joe Polo 9-8 in their extra end decider.

Korea's Yujin Seong. Photo © WinterGames NZ / Iain McGregor

31 Aug 2019 – Australia 1 and Korea will play for the gold medal this afternoon at the QRC Winter Games NZ Mixed Doubles Curling Tournament fuelled by Forsyth Barr.

After Australia took a single in the first end of their semi-final, Sweden's Therese Westman laid down the challenge with one of the shots of the week - a 3-metre angled raise of her own stone to knock an opposition stone out and score 4. A Swedish steal then had Australia staring down the barrel of a 5-1 deficit.

Over the next two ends the Aussies levelled the scores, and followed it up with precision shotmaking to score 3 of their own in the seventh end.