A Maniototo curling duo, Jess (27) and Ben Smith (25) are currently competing with the world's best in the World Mixed Doubles Championship in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

The siblings earned New Zealand's place in the field at December's world qualifying event in Scotland.

The pair, who were raised in Naseby, trained in Calgary for a week with their Canadian coach Kimberly Tuck before heading to Fredericton. 

Kimberly and husband Wayne were Canadian mixed doubles champions in 2014 and played in the 2015 Winter Games NZ at Naseby.

"We’re very grateful to have Kim with us and excited to learn from her experience," said Ben.

"And Jess and I are very excited to finally get our shot at the World Mixed Doubles Championship."

The siblings on the ice in a qualifying match against Turkey. PHOTO: Supplied

This tournament is their third opportunity to play at the World Championship. They prioritised their careers in 2019, and the 2020 event was a casualty of Covid-19.

"We are aiming to do ourselves, our community, our sponsors and everyone who has supported us proud. We want to represent New Zealand Curling to the best of our ability."

To date the Smiths have played three times in the world championships, with a loss to Estonia, a win against Spain and a loss to the United States. Their next match up is today (5am NZ time, on April 29) against Norway and then Japan at 1am on April 30. 

The venue in Fredericton is where Nat Thurlow and Hans Frauenlob earned a fifth placing for NZ in 2013.

Ben in action in a match against Latvia last year. PHOTO: Supplied

There are ten teams in two groups in the mixed doubles. The Smith pair are in group B together with Australia, Czech Republic, Spain, Estonia, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States.

Ben and Jess both play on national teams for curling and have represented NZ at World Championships and Pan Continental Championships.

Ben is the third in a team with Anton Hood, Brett Sargon, Hunter Walker and Jarec Palanuik (alternate) and Jess is the skip for the women’s team of Courtney Smith, Bridget Becker, Holly Thompson and Natalie Thurlow (alternate).  

The world senior championships are being held alongside the mixed doubles. 

The men’s team is Dave Watt, Iain Craig, Lorne DePape, Dean Fotti and Tom Telfer. They will be keen to emulate their success from the last time the world seniors were in Fredericton. 

Lorne DePape was a member of the 2013 team who bagged the silver medal, NZ’s best result at this event.

Jo Olszewski, Sandra Thomas, Liz Matthews, Merran Anderson and Juliet Charko will fly the flag for the NZ Women. Liz Matthews also returns from the 2013 team.

Both tournaments started on Saturday April 26, with the finals decided a week later. 

Stay up to date with results and updates on NZ Curling social media pages.

Read more: Women’s curling lessons coming to Alex.

Read more: Winter sports underway in mild conditions.

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