The three-day tournament attracted 10 teams from throughout New Zealand to the South, wrapping up with the finals on Sunday.
It was brother against brother in the final as the pairing of Jed Nevill, of Moa Creek, and Olivia Russell, of Ranfurly, took on Lucy Neilson, of Central Otago, and the older brother Darcy Nevill, of Moa Creek.
The teams had come up against each other twice before — once at a previous tournament with the older brother claiming victory and then in the early stages of the junior tournament.
The tables were turned with the game resulting in a tiebreaker, and eventually won by Jed and Olivia.
"[The final] was shaping up to be a very close game," Jed said.
Having only played together twice, Jed and Olivia had hoped to make the tournament’s top four "at a push", so making it to the final was unexpected.
The pair were shocked to come away with the win, with a score of 7-4.
The brothers were not the only siblings vying for a place, with Olivia’s stepbrother, William Becker, of Ranfurly — a New Zealand Youth Olympian — and team member Tahlia Petersen, of Auckland, touted as ones to watch.
The pair secured third spot and while there had been no tension at the dinner table, Olivia had heard through "word of mouth" William was annoyed not to get the chance to beat her.
The junior mixed doubles tournament was the brainchild of New Zealand curling legend Peter Becker.
A stalwart of the game, Mr Becker saw a gap in the experience many New Zealanders had when they competed at the Youth Olympics level.
The tournament was a way to increase their experience.
"We’ve sent teams [to Youth Olympics] before but they’ve been a bit shy on experience as far as mixed doubles is concerned because we haven’t had a programme for them.
"Unless they played in the senior competition they didn’t know too much about the game, so it was just a thought to get more experience for them."
Mr Becker was impressed with the ability the younger players exhibited.
"It was very good — I was impressed with the extent of the play. There’s some experienced juniors amongst them, but I was quite impressed with the way they played," Mr Becker said.
The success of the tournament meant New Zealand Curling would look at holding it again in 2024.
