NZ Mixed Champions 2018. Photo © NZCZA / Holly Gosse

6 Jun 2018 – Dave Watt, Brittany Taylor, Lorne DePape and Glenys Taylor won the year's first national title, staying undefeated to claim the 2018 NZ Mixed Curling Championship in Auckland over Queen's Birthday Weekend.

They beat Team Garion Long 11-5 in Monday evening's final to claim the trophy in a convincing display.

Seven teams played in two pools through the qualifying stages.

Estonia's Marie Turmann from the 2017 gold medal team. Photo © www.wintergamesnz.kiwi

Lake Wanaka, 3 May 2018 – Underlining its position as one of the world’s leading international winter sports events, the Audi quattro Winter Games NZ has joined forces with the World Curling Tour to host the first Mixed Doubles Curling Tournament of the 2018/19 season.

A newly-signed partnership agreement will mean that the Winter Games NZ Curling Tournament will become the first Southern Hemisphere event to join the global Tour which incorporates some 170 championship curling events.

NZ Men v Wales. Photo © WCF / Tom Rowland

28 Apr 2018 – The NZ Senior Men's side of Hans Frauenlob, Lorne DePape, Dave Watt and Iain Craig has been knocked out of the World Seniors Championship in Sweden.

They were the only one of the three Kiwi sides in action to reach the playoff rounds, and were beaten 7-4 by Scotland in the first round of knockout games.

New Zealand's Mixed Doubles and Senior Women's sides at the combined tournament in Oestersund both finished at the bottom of their respective pools.

MCI Doubles winners Brett Sargon and Eleanor Adviento. Photo © MCI / Rob Potter

26 Mar 2018 – Eleanor Adviento and Brett Sargon had the best possible lead-in to the 2018 World Mixed Doubles Championship when they won the season-opening MCI Doubles over the weekend. They beat current national titleholders Bridget and Sean Becker 10-9 in a tense final.

Adviento and Sargon had a setback in the opening round, losing 6-8 to 2017 NZ Championship runners-up Jess and Ben Smith. They won their remaining pool games, but only secured a playoff spot with a 7-5 win against Thivya Jeyaranjan and Nelson Ede in the last round.

They then headed Dunedin teenagers Grace and Jayden Bishop 7-4 in their semi-final.

Participants at August's Stepping Stones. Photo © NZCA / Jo Dowling

18 Feb 2018 – Enjoying the Curling from the Olympics? Want to be there in 2022?

Since my appointment as National Coach last year, I have been considering how best to work with our competitive athletes to support the goal of improving our international competitiveness.

I feel that the best way to make a real difference is to focus on those athletes truly committed to improving their skills over the long term. Those athletes that have the ability and potential to be successful international representatives over the next 5-10 years.

So I plan to form a High Performance Squad that will be the focus of my efforts over the next Olympic cycle.

6 Feb 2018 – New Zealand has no curling teams competing at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics or Paralympics.

Countries qualify for the three Olympic events via the World Men's, Women's and Mixed Doubles Championships and the Pacific-Asia Championships. NZ sides all came within one game of earning qualifying points in this Olympic cycle but ultimately missed out.

The New Zealand Men's team have competed at one Winter Olympics, in Turin in 2006.

Where can I watch?

• World Curling Federation's event website has full news, photos and results
• PrimeTV has some free-to-air coverage from PyeongChang
• Sky Sport has extensive coverage, with over 100 games broadcast live 9-25 February

Where can I play?

• Auckland Curling will have "come and try curling" sessions on Sundays 4, 11, 18 and 25 March
• Contact Dunedin Curling if you're keen to play in the south
• Naseby's MCI rink in Central Otago is open 7 days a week

Courtney Smith and Emma Sutherland in the bronze medal game vs Norway. Photo © WCF / Janne Ojanperä

11 Jan 2018 – The ultimate goal for New Zealand’s teams at the World Junior B Championships in Finland this week was to medal and so earn entry to the main event, the World Junior Championships 2018.

Although both sides narrowly missed out on achieving that goal, they are upbeat about their improvement and looking forward to going a step further next year.

The NZ Women – Jessica Smith, Holly Thompson, Emma Sutherland, Courtney Smith and Mhairi-Bronté Duncan, with coach Nelson Ede – came desperately close.

NZ men v Korea. Photo © WCF / Céline Stucki

10 Nov 2017 – The Korean men and women won their finals at the Pacific Asia Curling Championships 2017 in Erina, Australia yesterday, providing the 2018 Olympic hosts with the best possible boost before February's Games. 

The New Zealand sides just missed out on the opportunity to play in the medal rounds, both finishing fifth after the round robin stage.

The Kiwi women came closest, lying level with Hong Kong on 3 wins after the double round robin. The two sides shared the spoils in their two games, so played a sudden death Draw Shot Challenge after their last match to decide the playoff qualifier.

Dean Fotti, Thivya Jeyaranjan and Brittany Taylor, NZ v Spain. Photo WCF / Alina Pavlyuchik

17 Oct 2017 – New Zealand won two and lost five of their games at the World Mixed Curling Championship 2017 to finish 6th in their pool and 27th overall.

"The team played somewhat better than the results suggest," said coach Liz Matthews. "They had oportunities in at least three other games, but ultimately you have to take those chances."

The tournament was held at the Swiss high performance curling centre in postcard-perfect Champery, a venue the team agreed was outstanding in every way.