[Olympics] 'Beautiful Challenge' Team Kim loses 4-8 to Sweden... Misses Semifinal Advancement

Despite Meeting the Conditions, Defeated by Sweden in the Final Hurdle

On the 17th, Team Kim expressed regret after losing the women's team curling match between Korea and Sweden at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics held at the National Aquatic Center in Beijing, China. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The South Korean women's curling team, aiming for back-to-back medals, failed to advance to the semifinals at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

The South Korean women's curling team, 'Team Kim,' was defeated 4-8 by Sweden in the ninth round of the women's round-robin at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on the 17th, ending their hopes of reaching the semifinals. Sweden advanced to the semifinals with a 7-2 record, placing second.

South Korea held the lead and controlled the game in the early stages but gave up 2 points in the 8th end, allowing Sweden to take a 5-4 lead. In the 9th and 10th ends, South Korea was repeatedly blocked by Sweden's solid defense, preventing stones from entering the house.

After conceding 3 consecutive points, South Korea tried to rally from a 4-6 deficit in the final stone of the 10th end, but the last stone failed to enter as planned, and the game ended 4-8.

Team Kim sparked a curling craze in South Korea by winning the silver medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. However, despite public interest, they were unable to train properly due to controversies involving their team and coach's abuse of power and internal conflicts within the federation. They resumed training in March last year to prepare for the Beijing Games and secured their Olympic spot at the Olympic Qualification Event (OOE) in December, making a difficult return to the Olympics.

In Beijing, they fought hard with mixed results. On the 13th, they lost 5-6 in overtime to China, dropping to 6th place (2 wins, 2 losses), but then reversed the momentum with a commanding 10-5 victory over their rival Japan. Carrying pressure into the match against Denmark, they capitalized on Denmark's critical mistake to achieve a dramatic 8-7 comeback, reaching the brink of the semifinals. However, they lost to world No. 1 Sweden that day, failing to advance.

Earlier, Japan's 4-8 loss to Switzerland had given Team Kim hope for the semifinals, but they were blocked by the strong Swedish team and finished the round-robin with a 4-5 record, placing 8th overall. The losses to the United States and China were particularly painful.

The women's curling semifinals include Sweden (7 wins, 2 losses), Switzerland (8 wins, 1 loss), Great Britain, and Japan (both 5 wins, 4 losses). The women's curling semifinal tournament will be held on the 18th.

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