New Zealand Curling

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.

Otago Boys HS plan their quest for gold. Photo © NZCA / Janyne Fletcher

12 Aug 2019 – Despite the bone-chilling Dunedin weather there was a great turn out for the weekend's South Island Secondary Schools curling tournament.

After a break in 2018, this tournament returned in full force with the organisational help of Peter Becker.

It was very encouraging to see a number of new players and great team spirit in the Mixed competition. In the end, the Mya Miller's Bayfield Burlers came through, closely followed by Maniototo Area School.

Jennifer Jones and Brett Laing at the Winter Games NZ 2018. Photo © Winter Games NZ / Neil Kerr

1 Aug 2019 – Winter Games NZ is proud to announce SKY Sport will be the Official Broadcast Partner of the Games in the lead up to the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. The elite international winter sports event is celebrating 10 years of excellence in 2019, and in conjunction with SKY Sport will bring over four times as much content to New Zealand fans.

The focus will be on Live Broadcasts of the major ice and snow sports events and Highlight shows of the 26 events being held across six venues over 17 action packed days.

The Games get underway on Friday 23rd August with a Parallel Slalom under lights at Coronet Peak in Queenstown, featuring top skiers from New Zealand and around the world. The Mixed Doubles Curling tournament runs from Monday 26th to Saturday 31st August

Peter Becker presents the Wendy Becker Trophy to Warren Dobson and Jennifer Stewart. Photo: Janyne Fletcher

22 Jul 2019 – The new Wendy Becker Trophy for Sportsmanship was awarded for the first time at the conclusion of the New Zealand Men's and Women's Championships earlier this month, to Warren Dobson and Jennifer Stewart.

Peter Becker presented the half-curling stone trophy in memory of his late wife, who passed away three years ago. Wendy is fondly remembered by all who knew her both for her sportsmanship on the ice, and for her warmth, hospitality and generosity to the local, national and international curling community when off the ice.

The inaugural winners were selected by their fellow curlers at the NZ Championships.

The Australian Curling Federation also honours Wendy's memory with their annual Wendy Becker Memorial Sportsmanship Award.

16 July 2019 – Auckland Curling Club introduced East Auckland's Aotea Sport and Recreation Association to curling on Sunday 14 July. We had a great time sharing the love. But did they enjoy it? Watch and judge for yourself!

Courtney Smith encourages her sweepers. Photo: Janyne Fletcher

15 Jul 2019 – After six rounds of games over three days, Teams Courtney Smith and Matt Neilson claimed the 2019 Women's and Men's titles at the New Zealand Junior Curling Championships in Naseby over the weekend.

A feature of the competition was the tightness of many of the matches – particularly the Men's. Although there were only three Men's teams entered, the six curlers with international experience were spread across the three teams so played with younger emerging talent.

Team Matt Neilson dropped their first game 5-4 after trailing throughout, and after the first full round robin, the three sides had recorded a win and a loss each.