I am rather excited to report that expat Scots Peter de Boer and Kenny Thomson, playing with Scott and Sean Becker with Phil Dowling as alternate and Peter Becker as coach, have qualified New Zealand for the 2012 Men's World Championship!At the Pacific-Asia Championships in Nanjing, China, the Kiwis beat Korea in two straight games today in what was effectively a best of three semifinal, after their split of round robin games left both teams starting semis with one win and one loss, this record from the double round robin carrying forward to the best of five playoffs.
New Zealand now plays China in the Gold medal match tomorrow, Saturday, the Chinese men having beaten the Australians in the other set of matches. Both teams though are through to the World Men's Championship in Basel, March 31 - April 8.
Read more here. And here, on the New Zealand Curling Association website.
There is a gallery of photos, courtesy of the Chinese Curling Association, on the World Curling Federation website here. That's where the top photo is from, with Kenny on the left, and Pete in the centre. Scott Becker is nearest the camera.
