2009 Winter Games NZ

The world class quality of curling at the 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games made for enthralling final games. The Australia men’s team took gold in a high pressure game against China, winning 9-6, and Japan beat the Chinese women’s world champions to take gold with a decisive 8-5 victory.

Australia got a jump start and then used its experience to beat China 9-6 to win the men's curling gold medal on Saturday.

The Australian team of Steve Johns, John Theriault, Hugh Millikin (skip) and Ian Palangio upset the pre-event favourite in the final at the Maniototo International Curling Rink.

Read the full Otago Daily Times article here.

100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games (WGNZ) has scooped its second award in as many months. Last week, media manager, Victoria Murray-Orr, collected the award for Special Event category at the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand's (PRiNZ) annual awards.

Last month Winter Games NZ CEO, Arthur Klap, collected the SPARC Event Excellence Award for the event’s world-class organisation.

Japan applied pressure after the break to beat world champion China 8-5 in the women's curling final at the Winter Games.

Kotomi Ishizaki, Anna Ohmiya, Mari Motohashi and skip Moe Meguro caused a major upset when they beat the Chinese at the Maniototo International Curling Rink.

Read the full Otago Daily Times article here.

The curling finals at the 100% Pure NZ Winter Games are shaping up to be a huge contest between world-class teams on Saturday. In the men’s competition, Australia and China go head-to head for gold, and Korea and Japan will battle it out for bronze. In the women’s final, Japan is up against world champion China for gold, and Korea and New Zealand are playing for bronze.

The New Zealand women's team nearly pulled off a huge upset in the semifinal of the women's curling yesterday when it fell just short of beating China.

China won the enthralling game at the Maniototo Ice Rink 7-4.

Read the full Otago Daily Times article here.

There's something incongruous about seeing the Chinese curling team performing tai chi on a gravel road in the middle of the Maniototo.

This is Naseby, a town that time should have forgotten, only the people around here wouldn't let it.

Read the full Southland Times article here.

Robust competition in the men’s curling has forced a tiebreaker match for fourth position in the semi-finals at the indoor Maniototo Curing International rink. China and USA went into the round with three wins and three losses each behind Korea, Japan and Australia who each had five wins and one loss. Both China and USA won their respective games resulting in the need for the tiebreaker.

China and the United States will play a tie-breaker to determine the fourth men's semifinalist at the Winter Games curling today.

Both teams won their final two games at the Maniototo Ice Rink at Naseby to finish fourth equal after the round-robin competition.

Read the full Otago Daily Times article here.