Men's Curling Beats World No. 2 Canada for 2nd Consecutive Win at World Championship

On the 22nd of last month, player Lee Jun-hyung (center) is seen speaking at the 'Curling Media Day and International Competition Send-off Ceremony' held at Seoul Station T Tower.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The men's national curling team (Gyeonggi Curling Federation), which made an 'amateur championship miracle' last year, defeated the world No. 2 ranked Canada at the World Championship.

On the 6th (Korean time), the national team defeated Canada 10-9 in the 7th round-robin match of the 2021 World Men's Curling Championship held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This was their second consecutive win following the previous day's victory over the Netherlands.

According to the World Curling Federation, the current Canadian national team ranks 4th among 346 teams worldwide, including professional and amateur teams. The team led by skip Jeong Yeong-seok is making its first appearance in an international competition.

The national team took the lead by scoring 3 points in the 1st end and then stole 2 points in the 4th end while leading 4-1, extending their lead to 6-1.

However, in the 8th end, while leading 8-3, Canada caught up with 4 points, and in the 9th end, the team allowed a 2-point steal, resulting in a reversal to 8-9.

In the final 10th end, with the last stone thrown by skip Jeong Yeong-seok, the national team dramatically scored 2 points and secured the victory.

After suffering five consecutive losses to Italy, the Russian Curling Federation (RCF), Norway, Scotland, and Denmark, the team continued their hopes of qualifying for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics by defeating the Netherlands the previous day and Canada on this day.

The top 6 teams out of 14 qualify for the Beijing Winter Olympics. The 1st and 2nd place teams in the preliminaries advance directly to the semifinals, while the 3rd and 6th place teams and the 4th and 5th place teams compete for the semifinal tickets. Currently ranked 11th with 2 wins and 5 losses, the national team will face China and Sweden on the 7th, Germany on the 8th, Japan and Switzerland on the 9th, and the United States on the 10th.

The team consists of skip Jeong Yeong-seok, lead Lee Jun-hyeong, second Park Se-won, third Kim Jeong-min, and player-coach Seo Min-guk. All are known to be alumni of middle and high schools in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province. Although they did not join a professional team, they made headlines last year by blocking the Gyeongbuk Sports Council (skip Kim Chang-min) from winning the national team selection tournament for two consecutive years and earning the Taeguk mark.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.