Lowly ranked going into the event, recently staged in Finland, the men’s team finished fifth overall, while the women lost the bronze medal match to Norway 5-4.
"It was gutting after that last game to finish fourth, but someone has to finish fourth I suppose," Jessica Smith, skip of the women’s team, said.
"But we are very proud of our achievements ... last year we were second-last in our pool, so getting all the way to the quarterfinals, winning that, and then coming so close, was great."
Both teams — all of whose members hail from Otago — arrived back in Dunedin on Saturday morning.
Men’s skip Simon Neilson led his team to the quarterfinals, where they came up against eventual silver medallist Russia.
"We put a lot of work in during the past few months and there’s a little disappointment at how things turned out," Neilson said.
"The boys are in good shape, though, and they should step up well in the next couple of years."
Women’s coach Nelson Ede said the majority of curlers in both teams would be eligible for the next World Junior Championships, and their performances in Finland were a great foundation to work from, "Everyone in the teams gets on well together, which makes a big difference when you’re travelling such long distances together," Mr Ede said.
"The continuity of the team helps the success of the team: individually they are all very successful curlers, but curling is very much a team game."
The top three finishers qualified for the top-flight World Junior Championships in Scotland.
