25 Feb 2024 – Two months ago the New Zealand Junior Men's team earned promotion to the World Junior Championship with a fourth-place finish at the World Junior 'B' event in Lohja, Finland.

The step up was a high one though, and the side of Will Becker, Sam Flanagan (skip), Darcy Nevill and Jed Nevill went winless at the just-concluded 10-team World Championship. They were one of four nations to be relegated back down to the B Division.

After their second-to-last round-robin game, Kiwi skip Sam Flanagan summed up their experience at the event. "It's been a little bit of a frustrating experience, being at the bottom of the table," he said.

"It certainly wasn't what we planned to achieve after qualifying for this tournament, but we're taking it as a learning experience and starting to build some momentum. Hopefully, we can go home happy with ourselves."

Their result is not due to a lack of talent or determination from the side. Through some of the early games they were matching their opponents shot for shot early in the match, but were unable to sustain that performance. Many NZ teams (including the Youth Olympic side last month) have had the same issue, with the hard competitive edge needed at the top level being tough to replicate in training.

In the playoffs, Denmark won the gold medal from Italy, and Denmark headed USA for the bronze. Switzerland, Japan and Norway claimed the Junior Women's medals.

The New Zealand Men's and Women's Junior teams will get their chance to qualify for the 2025 World Championships at the Junior-B events at the end of the year.

• World Curling Tournament page
• World Curling official results
• NZ record at World Junior Championships

NZ Results

Team NZ L-R: Jed Nevill, Darcy Nevill, Sam Flanagan, Will Becker

Darcy Nevill, Jed Nevill and Will Becker, NZ v Switzerland

Jed Nevill and Darcy Nevill, NZ v Canada