23 Jan 2015 – The lineup is confirmed for the medal games at the Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships 2015 in Naseby, New Zealand after the last round-robin and tiebreaker matches today.

China qualified at the top of both the Men’s and Women’s leaderboards to earn direct entry to their finals, and both Korean teams finished second for one semi-final berth.

Korea’s men will play Japan, while the other Women’s semi-finalist is New Zealand. The Kiwis scored 3 points in the ninth end to seal an 8-3 tiebreaker over Japan, after both finished with a 3 win - 5 loss record.

New Zealand skip Eleanor Adviento was full of praise for her team. “They played great all day,” she said. “We played to our strengths, kept it simple and we hope to keep it going tomorrow.”

In the Men’s morning games, China beat Australia 7-4 and New Zealand recorded an extra-end 6-5 win over Japan. That left Australia, Japan and New Zealand all with a chance of a semi-final or at least a tiebreaker.

New Zealand’s chances evaporated when they were beaten 8-3 by Korea in the afternoon. That effectively made the Australia - Japan match the decider, and Japan had control from the outset to win 7-3.

Speaking about his team’s prospects for their semi-final against Korea, Japan’s skip Ryuji Shibaya said, “Our three games before this were just single-point losses. So we only need to improve a little, like we did against Australia today, to be competitive.”

China’s women beat Australia 14-1 in the early session, and Korea had a last-stone 6-5 win against New Zealand. Later in the day, China beat their New Zealand hosts 8-5, and Japan beat Australia 7-4.

Although her side did not win a game through the tournament, Australian skip Victoria Wilson was upbeat after the game. “We’ve improved a lot through the week,” she said, “and today we made shots that were near misses earlier. So we’re a lot happier after this.”

On the future for her team, she added, “I’m aging out [of Juniors] this year so that was my last game, but the girls will hopefully continue on. We have two 13-year-olds and two aged 15, so they have plenty of time to get some experience and build a good foundation for Australian curling.”

Semifinals at Naseby’s Maniototo Curling International rink start at 9:00 am tomorrow, Saturday 24 January. The finals get under way at 2:30 pm.

The Men’s and Women’s gold medallists will qualify for the World Junior Curling Championships which are taking place in Tallinn, Estonia in March.

22 Jan 2015 – The Men’s and Women’s teams from China and Korea confirmed their qualification for the playoff rounds at the Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships after the fourth day of play in Naseby, Central Otago today.

The early Women’s games were won by Korea 12-3 over Australia, and by China who were pushed hard by Japan before winning 8-6.

China’s skip Jiang Yilun was asked how her side handled the pressure of their matches. “We just focus on our game,” she said. “We just want to get better and better, improve through each game.”

She added, “We don’t focus on the end result, we just plan each end and try and play every stone as well as we can.”

In the afternoon China got out to an early lead to beat Korea 9-4, and New Zealand won a high-scoring match over Japan 11-7 to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Kiwi skip Eleanor Adviento said after their win, “When we had a good lead we just had to remind ourselves not to get distracted. When they got their 3 we were back to only one up, but we still felt we were in control so we just stayed focussed, and got it back. We’re looking forward to tomorrow.”

In the Men’s morning games, China beat New Zealand 10-4, and it took an extra end to find the winner of the Korea vs Japan game. With his last stone Korea’s skip Lee Ki Jeong drew around a guard to secure a 7-6 result.

In the late draw, Korea held off Australia 8-3 after nine ends, but the China - Japan game came down to the last stone. Japan had a chance to hit for two points and tie the match up, but the stone rolled just a little too far and China took the match 8-7.

21 Jan 2015 – The second half of the double round robin at the Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships in Naseby, New Zealand on Wednesday afternoon saw some results from the first round reversed.

In the Men’s morning games, a steal of 5 points in the ninth end sealed Japan’s 11-2 win over Australia, and a 3-pointer in the third was the difference for Korea to beat New Zealand 8-5.

The two afternoon Men’s matches had plenty of entertainment for the packed gallery. New Zealand’s Men recorded their first win of the week, stealing the last end from Australia for a 5-4 victory after a sweeping error saw the final Australian draw come up fractionally short.

On the next sheet, Korea stole the last three ends to give China their first defeat of the week 7-5. With Korea’s shot stone in the last end well protected, China’s skip Wang Jinbo lined up a tough in-off but it missed by a whisker.

Korean skip Lee Ki Jeong said after the game, “We just played step by step, we tried to keep a simple plan – keep aggressive with lots of stones.” He added, “We know the ice, and our teamwork is getting better.”

Kiwi skip Simon Neilson thought his team had not been far off the pace in the first round and had worked hard for their win. “We’ve been putting goals in place for every game and for every end, and having something to work towards,” he said. “It always feels rewarding to come away with a win in a tight game, and helps keep us in touch.”

Strong starts were key to the winners of the Women’s morning games, with Japan beating Australia 14-3 and China recording a 7-2 win against New Zealand. The afternoon saw Korea squeeze past a guard on the ninth end to hit for 3 points and a 7-3 win against Japan, while New Zealand beat Australia 14-4.

The significance of the NZ win was not lost on skip Eleanor Adviento. “It was really important for us, because it [finishing ahead of Australia] will help qualify NZ for the next Youth Olympic Games.”

20 Jan 2015 – Team China head both the Men’s and Women’s leaderboards at the Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships in Naseby, New Zealand as the double round robin nears the halfway mark.

In the Men’s games on the second day of competition, China repeated their perfect first day with a 13-4 win over Japan in the morning and a 10-2 result against Australia in the afternoon. Skip Wang Jinbo put his team’s good form down to teamwork and practice. “We have a good team, a good group,” he said. “They are showing good technique and we have had good results so far.”

Australia are second on the table thanks to a well-earned 11-7 victory against Korea that featured some excellent shot-making. Japan recorded their first win when they beat the NZ hosts 7-4.

Both games in the morning round of the Women’s competition went to the last stone. China had to fight all the way to beat Korea 9-7, and Japan headed off New Zealand 7-6.

Japan Women’s skip Tamami Naito believed that her side’s understanding of the ice conditions was a key factor. “We talked about the ice conditions after every end,” she said. “The whole team discussed the weight, the curl - everyone contributed.”

New Zealand had another close result in their afternoon 10-7 loss to Korea, and China maintained their perfect record with a 15-2 win against Australia.

19 Jan 2015 – Both Chinese teams, the Korean and New Zealand women and the Australian men have a 100% record after the first day of the Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships 2015 in Naseby, New Zealand.

The Australian men made their own history in the opening session, winning their first ever PAJCC game in the last such event before it is replaced with the World Junior “B” Championships next year. A steal of 2 in the seventh end turned their game against their New Zealand hosts as they secured their 6-3 win.

Skip Dean Hewitt was understandably delighted. “Yes, it’s been a long time coming,” he agreed. “I think the difference this year is that we’ve had the chance for more practice coming into the games. We had a couple of tough shots that went for us today, so all credit to the sweepers and the calling for them to come off.”

Steals also decided the other Men’s matches on the first day. A 3-pointer in the fifth end was crucial in China’s first round 7-4 result against Korea, and they stole the first two ends to set up their 9-2 win against New Zealand in the afternoon. Japan and Korea were neck-and-neck before Korea stole 3 late in the game to win 7-3.

The New Zealand women had the perfect start to their campaign with a last-stone open hit in the first end to score 5, as they went on to beat Australia 17-2. “We had our draw weight and so just played to our strengths,” said skip Eleanor Adviento. “It just worked out for us today, so an awesome way to start.”

Korea overcame Japan 13-8 to win their first round clash, despite a big 5-point end to the Japanese along the way. The afternoon games saw lopsided results, China beating Japan 15-1 and Korea securing a 16-1 result against Australia.

Korea’s skip Hyoung Bo Ram was pleased with their two wins on the opening day. “Of course we all hoped to win, but we can only do our best. We have been training very hard, both at home and in Japan.”

Meet the 5 Men's and 5 Women's teams who will contest the Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships 2015. The two winning sides will qualify for the 2015 World Junior Curling Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.

12 Jan 2015 – New Zealand's top young curlers are looking forward to testing themselves against top international sides on home ice next week at the 2015 Pacific-Asia Junior Curling Championships.

Men’s and women’s Under-21 teams from Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea will compete at the Maniototo Curling International rink in Naseby, Central Otago.

The winners will secure the final men’s and women’s places at the 2015 World Junior Championships in Estonia.

"Our team are excited for the games to get under way," said New Zealand women's skip Eleanor Adviento. "We have been training for weeks and are looking forward to putting our hard work into practice."

She added, "We are honoured to represent New Zealand and we can't wait to wear the silver fern with pride in front of our home crowd."

Her anticipation was shared by Kiwi Men's skip Simon Neilson. "We have a reasonably fresh team this year," he said. "We're looking forward to building our experience and developing these skills for a stronger future in New Zealand curling. The boys are definitely looking forward to a bit of action on home ice."