Ben Smith (curler)

Ben Smith
Curler
Born	(1999-10-01) 1 October 1999 (age 24)^[1] Ranfurly, New Zealand^[1]
Team
Skip	Anton Hood
Third	Ben Smith
Second	Brett Sargon
Lead	Hunter Walker
Alternate	Peter de Boer
Mixed doubles partner	Jessica Smith
Curling career
Member Association	New Zealand
World Championship appearances	2 (2023, 2024)
Pan Continental Championship appearances	2 (2022, 2023)

Ben Smith (born 1 October 1999) is a New Zealand curler from Ranfurly. He currently plays third on the New Zealand men's national team.^[1]

Career

Juniors

Smith was a member of the New Zealand junior men's team from 2016 to 2020, playing second on the team until 2018, and then playing third thereafter. Smith's first international competition was at the 2016 World Junior B Curling Championships. The New Zealand team, skipped by Simon Neilson, finished with a 2–5 record in 16th place.^[2] The following year, the team played at the 2017 World Junior B Curling Championships. The team, now skipped by Matthew Neilson finished 16th overall again, with an improved 3–4 record.^[3] At the 2018 World Junior B Curling Championships, with Simon Neilson skipping again, the team finished fifth overall, with a 4–3 record, and losing in the quarterfinals.^[4] With Matthew Neilson skipping again, the team played at the 2019 World Junior-B Curling Championships. There, the team finished pool play with a 5–2 record, and went on to win all three of their playoff games to claim the gold medal.^[5] This promoted New Zealand to the 2019 World Junior Curling Championships. There, the team finished the round robin with a 4–5 record, finishing sixth overall, and avoiding relegation to the B tournament for the following season.^[6] At the 2020 World Junior Curling Championships, the team finished with a 3–6 record, in 8th place,^[7]^[8] relegating their country to the B event, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^{[citation needed]}

As a junior, Smith also competed at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.^[9] In the team event, he played second on a rink skipped by Matthew Neilson. They finished the event with a 1–6 record, in 13th place.^[10] In the mixed doubles event, Smith was teamed up with American Cora Farrell. The pair only played in one game, losing to Lee Ji-young of South Korea and Johan Nygren of Sweden.^{[citation needed]}

Men's

Smith joined the New Zealand men's team for the 2022–23 curling season. The team represented New Zealand at the inaugural Pan Continental Curling Championships in 2022. There, the team finished with a 3–4 record, finishing in fifth place, but good enough to qualify for the 2023 World Men's Curling Championship, Smith's first men's world championship appearance.^[11] It was New Zealand's first trip to the Worlds since 2012.^[12]

National championships

Playing third on the Anton Hood rink, Smith won the New Zealand Men's Curling Championship in 2020. He was also runners-up in 2016 playing second for Matthew Neilson, in 2019 playing third for Neilson and in 2021 playing third for Brett Sargon.^[13] In mixed doubles curling Smith and sister^[14] Jessica won the New Zealand Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in 2018 and 2019.^[15]