8 Jun 2023 – Dave Watt, Courtney Smith, Will Sheard and Mhairi-Bronté Duncan won the 2023 NZ Mixed Curling Championship in Auckland over King's Birthday Weekend. They had an undefeated tournament en route to the title.

They headed off Brett Sargon, Holly Thompson, KJ Fourd and Olivia Russell in the final, 10-2, on Monday evening.

A record twelve teams contested the event, including four composed largely of participants in Auckland Curling's Youth Development program. Any doubts about their ability to compete at this event were quickly laid to rest, after the three playing in the first draw won their opening games.

With the available ice time strictly limited at Auckland's Paradice rink, the high number of entries meant that a semi-final round could not be accommodated. However, the two finalists dominated their pools and both qualified with a round left to play, so there was little argument that the two best teams reached the championship match.

Team Iain Craig qualified for the bronze medal match from Pool A with a 3-2 win-loss record. Three teams had the same record in Pool B, but of those three it was Team Matt Whineray who joined Craig, having beaten the other two sides in round-robin play. An 8-4 victory secured the bronze for Iain Craig, Sasha Goloborodko, Nikita Derevianko and Gillian Craig.

Updated 11 June: NZ Curling has confirmed that Dave Watt, Courtney Smith, Will Sheard and Mhairi-Bronté Duncan will represent New Zealand at October's World Mixed Championship 2023 in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Full results are available here.

Final Standings

1.  (6-0)  Dave Watt, Courtney Smith, Will Sheard, Mhairi-Bronté Duncan
2.  (4-2)  Brett Sargon, Holly Thompson, KJ Fourd, Olivia Russell
3.  (4-2)  Iain Craig, Sasha Goloborodko, Nikita Derevianko, Gillian Craig
4.  (3-3)  Matt Whineray, Liz Matthews, Rhys Greensill, Sandra Thomas
5.  (4-2)  Tahlia Petersen, Darcy Nevill, Eleanor Adviento, Leon Willy
6.  (2-4)  Ian Ford, Jennifer Jack, Craig Bickerstaff, Merran Anderson
7.  (4-2)  Lorne De Pape, Jo Olszewski, Dean Fotti, Pauline Farra
8.  (2-4)  Jonah Tan, Sophie Tran, Shaun Rush, Katrina Shepard
9.  (3-3)  Garion Long, Rachael Pitts, Benjamin Frew, Grace Apuwai-Bishop
10.  (2-4)  Jed Nevill, Lucy Jefferies, William Day, Maia Collins
11.  (1-4)  Sophie Norman, Oscar Cao, Abraham Chanwong, Micky Ng
12.  (0-5)  Austin Lamb, Mia Bishop, William Hooper, Trinity Cowie

Spirit of Curling

• Ian Ford

2023 Champions Mhairi-Bronté Duncan, Will Sheard, Courtney Smith and skip Dave Watt

Silver medallists KJ Fourd, Holly Thompson, skip Brett Sargon and Olivia Russell

Bronze medallists Sasha Goloborodko, skip Iain Craig, Gillian Craig and Nikita Derevianko

Sandra Thomas, Matt Whineray and Rhys Greensill

Abraham Chanwong and Oscar Cao

Katrina Shepard and Sophie Tran

Dean Fotti, Lorne DePape, Pauline Farra and Rhys Greensill

Wolfe Wedde (left) piped the curlers onto the ice for the opening round

Twelve teams to contest NZ Mixed

31 May 2023 – Twelve teams will contest the 2023 NZ Mixed Championship at Paradice Avondale in Auckland this weekend.

This tournament is the first National Championship on NZ Curling's annual calendar. It is also the only one contested on arena ice rather than dedicated curling ice, and this has meant some variations from the normal procedures.

"Auckland ice has its idiosyncrasies", explained tournament organiser Sandra Thomas. "The distance from hog to hog is slightly shorter than regulation, although hack to hog is regulation distance."

"Because ice conditions are more variable, the pre-game practice and draw shot procedure are different, and we'll outline those to the teams. The limited ice time available means teams will also have to keep a close eye on the clock – but that's always a good discipline to develop!"

"We're incredibly grateful to The Lion Foundation for their generous support, allowing us to keep the event affordable for competitors – and heavily subsidise our youth curlers especially."

"We always look forward to hosting this event, and to giving our competitors an enjoyable weekend. We'll be helping them cope with the 7 am starts, providing coffee and delicious pastries sponsored by Daily Bread!"

The tournament will have seven rounds of games in total, over four sessions on Sunday and Monday.