Winter Games NZ

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.

Australia's Tahli Gill. Photo © WinterGames NZ / Iain McGregor

30 Aug 2019 – Australia 1 and USA won their quarter-final games this afternoon at the QRC Winter Games NZ Mixed Doubles Curling Tournament fuelled by Forsyth Barr.

The Australians won the Trans-Tasman battle 8-4 against the local hopes, New Zealand 2, at Naseby's Maniototo Curling International rink. They stole two consecutive ends in the middle part of the game to take control, and will meet Sweden in tomorrow morning's first semi-final.

Australia's Tahli Gill confessed to a few nerves going into the game.

Anton Hood, New Zealand 2. Photo © NZ Curling

30 Aug 2019 – The round robin is complete at the QRC Winter Games NZ Mixed Doubles Curling Tournament fuelled by Forsyth Barr, and Sweden have joined Korea with direct entry to the semi-finals as pool winners.

They will meet the winners of this afternoon's quarter-finals between the second and third placegetters from the pools.

The New Zealand 2 side of Holly Thompson and Anton Hood are kept the local hopes alive with a final pool win against Australia 2. That earned them another Trans-Tasman clash with Australia 1's Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt in their quarter-final.

Hyeji Jang, Korea. Photo © Winter Games NZ / Iain McGregor

29 Aug 2019 – After 8 sessions of play at the QRC Winter Games NZ Mixed Doubles Curling Tournament fuelled by Forsyth Barr, Korea have guaranteed themselves a semi-final place as top qualifier in Pool A.

In today's afternoon session they had an arm-wrestle with the New Zealand 1 side of Jess and Ben Smith, with a single scored in every end by the team with last-stone advantage. It was Korea who had the advantage in the extra end to score their single and win 5-4.

Korea's Hyeji Jang said her team were enjoying the conditions.

Joe Polo and Tabitha Peterson, Team USA

28 Aug 2019 – Korea is the only unbeaten side after five sessions of play at the QRC Winter Games NZ Mixed Doubles Curling Tournament fuelled by Forsyth Barr.

The Korean pair of Hyeji Jang and Hoseung Lee trailed early in their match against Australia 1 this morning, but capitalised on their chances to win the last three ends and take the game 8-6.

Canada beat Finland 5-3 in the same round, but the local supporters were focussed on the inter-family match-up between New Zealand 1 (Jess and Ben Smith) and NZL3 (Courtney Smith and Hamish Walker).

Anton Hood and Holly Thompson, Team NZL2

27 Aug 2019 – The opening games of the QRC Winter Games NZ Mixed Doubles Curling Tournament fuelled by Forsyth Barr got under way in Naseby today, and the local sides were in action from the outset.

The New Zealand 2 side of Holly Thompson and Anton Hood faced Italy in the opening session, and the teams exchanged singles early. But the Kiwis scored three in the third end, and then followed it up with a steal of one en route to a crowd-pleasing 9-2 win.

"It felt really good," said Anton Hood. "The ice was a little bit straighter than in training, but the surface was good. Italy played pretty well, but a couple of things just fell our way."