NZ Senior Men v Wales. Photo © WCF / Céline Stucki

29 Apr 2017 – With the scores locked at 4-4 going into the final end of their quarter-final at the World Senior Men's Curling Championship, Sweden played it superbly to leave New Zealand skip Dan Mustapic needing a precision draw shot with the last stone of the game to win the match.

Mustapic's effort looked good but seemed to pick up a speck of dirt or ice to come up millimetres short. Sweden stole the end, and the Kiwis' tournament was over.

Sweden went on to beat Germany in their semi-final and then record a 6-4 extra-end win the the gold medal match against hosts Canada to go through the tournament unbeaten. Ireland beat Germany 6-3 for the bronze medal.

Bridget Becker, New Zealand v Slovakia. Photo © WCF / Richard Gray

28 Apr 2017 – New Zealand's Mixed Doubles team of Bridget Becker and Scott Becker knew that their quest to qualify for the playoffs at the World Championships, and so put themselves in the frame for Olympic qualification, would not be easy.

A top-three finish in their pool would depend on a strong start as they knew they would face tough opponents, Russia and Switzerland, in their last two pool games at the event in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. However they found themselves on the back foot from the outset.

"Not the start we are after with two losses at this Worlds," said Scott Becker after their first two games against Slovenia and Spain.

11 Mar 2016 - The World Curling Federation's Specifications for brushes in elite curling will apply to all New Zealand championships.

This was determined by the New Zealand Curling Association Executive at its February meeting. Approved brushes are now specified in the Rules of Curling, and this change is in line with WCF's recommendation that tournaments that lead directly or indirectly to qualification for a WCF event should be bound by the WCF's new regulations.

Ben Smith in action in Östersund. Photo © WCF / Eric Norrlander

10 Jan 2017 – New Zealand's Under-21 teams experienced the narrow margins between success and pain at the 2017 World Junior B Curling Championships in Östersund, Sweden this week.

Neither the NZ Men nor the Women progressed beyond the round robin stage, but their final records mask how competitive they were at times through the tournament.

The NZ Women finished with a 1-5 win-loss record, with two of their losses by just a single point. Had those games gone in the Kiwis' favour they would have earned a tiebreaker and a chance of progressing to the playoffs.

Korea won their semi-final against New Zealand. Photo © WCF / Richard Gray

12 Nov 2016 – A dominant display from Japan in the Women's bronze medal game snuffed out any chance of a New Zealand medal at the 2016 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships in Uiseong, Korea.

Together with the 5th place from the Men's side, this means neither NZ team will be playing at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang. A medal of any colour for either side would have guaranteed them a place in the last-chance 2017 Olympic Qualifying Event.

Next April's World Mixed Doubles Championship will be the final opportunity for any Kiwi curlers to book a ticket to PyeongChang.

New Zealand v Sweden in the playoff round of 16. Photo © WCF / Alina Androsova

22 Oct 2016 – New Zealand's reward for earning the last qualifying spot in the playoffs at the World Mixed Curling Championship in Kazan, Russia was a knockout game against top qualifiers Sweden.

Brett Sargon, Thivya Jeyaranjan, Kieran Ford and Emily Whelan took their one with hammer and stole the second before Sweden replied with a double in the third end. The Kiwis then took the initiative, gaining their reward when they forced an error from the Swedes to score three rather than taking a safer option for two. NZ then led 5-2 at the fourth end break.

2016 Auckland Club Champions Cleansweep. Photo Beth Gibbs

5 Oct 2016 – Auckland Curling's 2016 Championship finals went down to the final stone last weekend, when Cleansweep stole the last two ends to beat defending champions Stonehenge 6-5.

Garion Long's Stonehenge led 5-2 after five ends of the "A" Division final before Cleansweep came back into the game. Chelsea Farley, Jonah Tan, Ryan Lewis and spare Matt Hohaia (in the absence of Tessa Farley and Eleanor Adviento) took one in the sixth and then stole another couple to tie the scores coming home.

Girls winners Maniototo Area School - Lucy Neilson, Courtney Smith, Tash Whyte, Anna Clarke. Photo Dianna Whyte / NZCA

27 Sep 2016 – The top Boys and Girls teams from Maniototo Area School showed their class at the recent New Zealand Secondary School Championships, winning both titles on home ice at Maniototo Curling International in Naseby.

The Maniototo Boys #1 team did not have everything their own way. Hamish Walker's strong Otago Boys High School side opened up a five point lead after four ends of their round robin match and continued to win 6-5. Both teams were unbeaten through the rest of the preliminary round, so OBHS went into the final as top seeds.

2016 NZ Senior Mens champions L-R: Dan Mustapic, Hans Frauenlob, Lorne DePape, Iain Craig. Photo © Gillian Craig

18 Sep 2016 – Dan Mustapic, Hans Frauenlob, Lorne DePape and Iain Craig won their third successive NZ Senior Men's Curling Championship this weekend after going through the tournament undefeated.

They were on form from the outset, with their 5 point winning margin in their first game being their closest of the round robin.

Five Men's teams lined up at the start of the event. The Women's championship was uncontested this year.