After the biting disappointment of their loss against Poland, New Zealand found a whole other level to defeat Denmark 7-1 in the second set of playoff games and cement their place in Kelowna.
After scoring one point in the opening end, the New Zealanders then stole in the second, third and fifth end (with the fourth blanked) to establish a 4-0 lead.
The Danes then blanked the sixth before eventually getting one point on the board in the seventh.
But Hood and his team were now in their rhythm and when the opportunity came in the seventh to extend their advantage further and dominate the game, this time the skip didn’t miss.
With Denmark lying shot with the rock near the button, and New Zealand holding a stone at the top of the 12-foot and at the back in the eight-foot, Hood opted for a take-out and roll and delivered it with exact precision to claim the three points that saw Denmark reach for handshakes.
“Excited is an understatement,” said Hood afterwards. “I think probably a wee bit of relief, I’d say, given how well the guys played during the week and how incredible our support staff were when we lost this morning. It was quite deflating, so we’re ecstatic to get through.”
Australia’s women, meanwhile, managed to successfully reverse their fortunes mid-game against Hungary to claim the last OQE berth.
Up 4-3 after the fifth end, Hungary then didn’t score for the rest of the game. After blanking the sixth, the Australians then stole two points in the seventh, and a pair of ones in the eighth and ninth to move 7-4 ahead.
It was ultimately deemed too big a lead for the Hungarians to undo in the 10th, compelling Kalocsai-van Dorp to offer handshakes.
“It’s a very exciting win for us as a team but also for Australia as a curling nation with no curling ice,” skip Hannah Williams reflected with a smile.
“We’re really pleased to have made that final qualification spot. The girls have worked so hard. We’ve been here for nearly three weeks now. We’ve been really well supported by local ice rinks, so a big shout out to Kinross and Perth and Forfar and then all the wonderful facilities here. It’s been quite a journey for us.”
The six successful teams from the Pre-Olympic Qualification Event will now complete the field set to line up for the OQE in Kelowna, Canada, where the final two NOC quota spots for Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 are to be obtained.*
The OQE will feature three competitions: women’s, men’s and mixed doubles.
The curling events at Milano Cortina 2026 will begin on Wednesday, 4 February, and you can find the complete schedule here.
*As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes’ participation at the Milano Cortina Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Milano Cortina 2026.