19 Jun 2023 – The 2022-23 New Zealand Men's and Women's teams lived up to their favouritism when they won their respective National Championship titles in Naseby last weekend.

Jess Smith, Holly Thompson, Bridget Becker and Natalie Thurlow had a strong tournament. They completed their undefeated run with a 9-3 win in the final over their closest rivals Courtney Smith, Mhairi-Bronté Duncan, Eleanor Adviento and Michelle Bong.

Team Lucy Neilson claimed the bronze medal with a last-stone 9-7 victory against Jo Olszewski's side. Team Olszewski finished the round-robin with the same win-loss record as teams skipped by Grace Apuwai-Bishop and Tahlia Petersen but claimed the playoff spot by virtue of their superior draw shot challenge result.

Jess Smith agreed that her team was under pressure to perform. "But the girls rose to the challenge and played so well all week long," she said.

"Our team was new playing together last year, but we have a year under our belts now and that is really showing through. We have made some minor tweaks to playing positions to get the most out of our team, and it's working really well."

"We loved that there were so many women’s teams this year. Playing plenty of games together is what will make us improve. Game pressure is not something you can replicate easily in practice."

Anton Hood, Ben Smith, Brett Sargon and Hunter Walker scored four points in the second end of the final, and this proved decisive as they beat Sean Becker, Warren Dobson, Scott Becker, James Becker and Warren Kearney 8-4. This was a welcome breakthrough for Team Hood, who won the title three years ago but were beaten in the medal rounds by the ever-competitive Becker in 2021 and 2022.

"We were glad to get it done after last year’s results," said Hood. "It was a great feeling to go through the playoffs against two of the toughest and most experienced teams."

"This is the beginning of a long season, so is exciting to start things off well and take our learnings from last season. We're starting to feel the growth in our strategy and technique, so are feeling positive. We have a season planned in Canada,  and are just waiting on the selection committee to see what may be in store for us in the international realm."

Team Peter de Boer won the bronze medal match over Garion Long, taking the result 8-7 after an extra end. Will Becker finished the round robin with the same record as both of these sides, but were counted out of the playoff round on draw shot challenge results.

Update 24 June:  NZ Curling has confirmed the NZ Men's and Women's team selections for the 2023-24 international season.

NZ Women's Team:  Jess Smith, Bridget Becker, Courtney Smith, Holly Thompson and Nat Thurlow. 

NZ Men's Team:   Anton Hood, Brett Sargon, Ben Smith and Hunter Walker.  Alternate TBC. 

First on the radar for these sides will be the Pan Continental Curling Championships 2023 in Kelowna, BC, Canada. These get underway in late October.

Full results for the NZ Mens' and Women's Championships are here.
 

Final Standings

Women

1.  (8-0)  Jessica Smith, Holly Thompson, Bridget Becker, Natalie Thurlow
2.  (6-2)  Courtney Smith, Mhairi-Bronté Duncan, Eleanor Adviento, Michelle Bong
3.  (5-3)  Rachael Pitts, Lucy Neilson (s), Ruby Kinney, Olivia Russell
4.  (2-6)  Joanna Olszewski, Sasha Goloborodko, Sandra Thomas, Liz Matthews
5.  (2-4)  Grace Apuwai-Bishop, Temika Apuwai-Bishop, Patsy Inder, Anna Stuart, Gabrielle Love
6.  (2-4)  Tahlia Petersen, Lucy Jefferies, Jennifer Jack, Sophie Norman
7.  (0-6)  Olivia Oram, Sarah Oram, Ellie McKenzie, Bella Stewart

Men

1.  (8-1)  Anton Hood, Ben Smith, Brett Sargon, Hunter Walker
2.  (7-2)  Sean Becker, Warren Dobson, Scott Becker, James Becker, Warren Kearney
3.  (5-4)  Peter de Boer, Kenny Thomson, Gordon Hay, Phil Dowling
4.  (4-5)  Garion Long, Benjamin Frew, William Sheard, Jack Millar, Reece Aiken
5.  (4-3)  William Becker, Sam Flanagan, Hunter Burke, Flynn Coburn, Zac McKenzie
6.  (3-4)  Darcy Nevill, Jed Nevill, William Loe, Ben Kinney
7.  (2-5)  Dave Watt, Dan Thurlow, Ben Hore, Jeremy Jenkins, Nelson Ede
8.  (1-5)  Peter Becker, Murray Pitts, Jack Steele, Steve Lockhart
9.  (0-7)  Dean Fotti, Nikita Derevianko, Rhys Greensill, Matt Whineray

Wendy Becker Sportsmanship Award

•  Darcy Nevill, Ruby Kinney, Bridget Becker

Wendy Becker Award winners Ruby Kinney, Darcy Nevill and Bridget Becker, with Peter Becker

Women's champions Jess Smith, Holly Thompson, Bridget Becker and Natalie Thurlow with NZCA President Liz Matthews

Men's champions Anton Hood, Ben Smith, Hunter Walker and Brett Sargon with NZCA President Liz Matthews

Weather interferes with travel plans

15 Jun 2023 – The weather gods have upset travel plans for some of the competitors at the NZ Men's and Women's Championships in Naseby this week.

Fog at Dunedin Airport has resulted in flight cancellations, causing some teams to miss their opening games.

The record number of entries for this year's championships meant that adjusting the playing schedule wasn't even an option for the organisers, and so the affected teams have had to default the missed matches. At least one of today's games resulted in a double default.

Round robin play for the seven Women's and nine Men's sides continues through to Saturday evening, after which the top four in each event will qualify for the playoff rounds.