30 Apr 2022 – The World Mixed Doubles and World Seniors Championships in Geneva this week were not a happy hunting ground for the two Kiwi teams.
Dave Watt's NZ Senior Men won two of their six games, with the highlight being an extra-end 6-5 victory over pool runners-up Scotland.
But there was no success for the Mixed Doubles side of Natalie Thurlow and Warren Dobson, who finished at the bottom of their 10-team pool.
"We just weren't accurate enough, consistently enough," said Dobson. "We felt we were improving as the week went on, but our last few games were against the top finishers in our pool so the scorelines didn't look any better."
Scotland's Eve Muirhead and Bobby Lammie went undefeated throughout the Mixed Doubles competition to emphatically claim the World title. Switzerland won silver, and Germany bronze.
New Zealand's placing in the last four – along with Finland, Spain and Turkey – means these teams are relegated to next season’s open-entry World Qualification Event. From here, teams will attempt to earn one of the four places available in next year's 20-team World Championship.
Two of the four losses for the Senior Men's team of Watt, Iain Craig, Lorne DePape and Ian Ford were on the last stone.
"We weren't far away early on," said Dave Watt after their last game. "I'm pleased that we managed to bring it all together and play to our potential on the last day, and take that final game against the Scots."
The Senior Men's competition was won by Canada, ahead of the Czech Republic and Sweden. Switzerland claimed the Women's gold, with USA and Scotland claiming the other medals.