New Zealand Curling

Otago Central, pictured here during their 2012 Nicolson Trophy win, continued their fine run in 2017

28 Jun 2017 – Otago Central Curling Club's history of success in the Nicolson Trophy has continued.

Their two teams won the 2017 match ahead of Alpine, Poolburn and Mt Ida clubs at Alexandra's IceInLine outdoor ice rink today.

The Nicolson Trophy is played between the two top teams from the Idaburn and Naseby Councils, as decided from their respective “One Day Matches” from the previous season.

23 Jun 2017 – The New Zealand Olympic Committee, Auckland Curling and 80 students from Henderson and Kowhai Intermediate Schools have celebrated 2017's Olympic Day with an introduction to curling.

"The fact is that almost all of them have never tried curling," said Rob Page, NZOC's head of education.

"It's an Olympic sport, and for us it's also a way to promote the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games in New Zealand, and create vocations for the future! As these Games will be taking place in the summer for us, there is less interest compared with the Summer Games, where New Zealand is strong. So I’m hoping our schoolchildren will be interested and take up curling seriously: that's our plan!"

2017 champions Kieran Ford, Eleanor Adviento, Brett Sargon and Thivya Jeyaranjan. Photo © NZ Curling / Liz Matthews

5 Jun 2017 – Brett Sargon, Eleanor Adviento, Kieran Ford and Thivya Jeyaranjan backed up their 2016 NZ Mixed Fours title by winning this year's championship in Auckland during Queen's Birthday Weekend.

They headed off five challengers at Auckland's Paradice Avondale rink, but didn't have it all their own way.

The limited ice time available to Auckland Curling meant that the tournament format did not allow extra ends to break a tie, and Team Sargon drew their first game with Garion Long's four.

Another of the opening round games between Iain Craig and Liz Matthews was also drawn, while the remaining Glenys Taylor v Rachel Pirie clash resulted in a one point win to the latter.

31 May 2017 – The positions of National Coach and Team coaches for New Zealand Curling are open now. Applications will close on Friday 16 June.

National Coach

The High Performance committee has formulated a job description for this position. The goals include building the international competitiveness of NZ curlers and teams, and building the pathways to assist talented athletes to progress to elite levels.

Responsibilities include coaching and camps, remote coaching support, full event preparation, and supporting local clubs to provide an environment where high performing athletes can improve.

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.