Anton Hood and Holly Thompson beat Japan 10-7 as the battle for playoff spots in pool B ramped up.
"We didn't have a very good practice and it kind of followed us through into the game," Hood said.
"Pete [de Boer, coach] gave us some good words at half-time, perked us up and told us to have a bit more fun - told us to smile and gave us some motivation that we needed."
He was full of praise for his team-mate.
"Holly carried her form through that game as well, like she has all tournament. If I could pick up another 10% I'd be quite happy, and it would make Holly's job a lot easier, too."
The other Kiwi combinations found the going in pool A just a little tougher.
Maniototo siblings Ben and Jess Smith pushed the unbeaten Koreans in a tit-for-tat encounter, but were pipped 5-4.
Courtney Smith and Hamish Walker also went down fighting in a 9-7 defeat to Canada's father-daughter team Robert and Emilie Desjardins.
Australia's Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt blazed home 12-2 against Finland's Eszter Juhasz and Markku Uusipaavalniemi.
The United States duo of Tabitha Peterson and Joe Polo issued a warning to the rest of the competition as they hammered their Italian counterparts 15-2.
Sweden's Robin Ahlberg and Therese Westman comfortably dispatched Australia's Matt Panoussi and Jennifer Westhagen.
The playoffs and final pool A round robin clashes get under way today.
