Manitoto siblings Jessica and Ben Smith earned the right to represent New Zealand at the 2021 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship when they won the three-team national trial at Naseby last weekend. This is the third time they have won that right, but for personal reasons they did not go in 2019, and this year's world tournament was a casualty of the pandemic. The 2020 cancellation increased the importance of the 2021 World Championship as an Olympic qualifier, triggering a one-off change from the New Zealand Curling Association. It introduced a trial rather than the automatic selection of the New Zealand Championship winners as the national team. The 2021 World Championship is scheduled for the last week of April, but the venue is not yet confirmed.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 04, 2020 15:33 UTC