[Olympics] Korean Curling Defeats Russian Olympic Committee for 2nd Consecutive Win

The Korean curling team competing against the Russian Olympic Committee. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Seomideum] The South Korean women's curling team achieved a remarkable two consecutive wins at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

South Korea's women's four-person national curling team Kim (Kim Eun-jung, Kim Kyeong-ae, Kim Cho-hee, Kim Seon-young, Kim Yeong-mi) defeated the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) 9-5 in the third match of the women's curling round-robin held on the 12th at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.

Although they lost 7-12 to Canada in the first match, South Korea, who defeated Great Britain 9-7 the previous day, recorded 2 wins and 1 loss. In this tournament, curling is contested by ten countries in a round-robin format, with the top four teams advancing to the semifinals.

As of the morning of the 12th, the United States and Switzerland lead with 3 wins, while South Korea, Sweden, and Japan are tied with 2 wins and 1 loss each.

The ROC, which lost to South Korea that day, fell to 3 losses. South Korea trailed ROC 1-2 until the 2nd end but scored 2 points in the 3rd end to take the lead, then added 1 point in the 4th end and 2 points in the 5th end to pull ahead 6-2 and seize the momentum.

South Korea previously won a silver medal, an outcome beyond expectations, in women's curling at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

After defeating Great Britain the previous day, Kim Seon-young explained in an interview with the organizing committee that the team's nickname "Garlic Girls" comes from being natives of Uiseong, Gyeongbuk, famous for garlic, and because they have won several matches held in Uiseong.

Regarding the fact that all five players share the surname "Kim," she said it was a "coincidence," but added, "'Kim' also means 'gold' (金) medal, so it feels even better."

South Korea will challenge for a third consecutive win against host country China at 3:05 PM (Korean time) on the 13th. As of the morning of the 12th, China remains at the bottom along with ROC with 3 losses.

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