[Olympics] Women's Curling Team Faces Crucial Moment for Semifinals in Today's Back-to-Back Matches Against US and Japan

On the 14th, at the National Aquatic Center in Beijing, China, during the women's team curling match between Korea and the United States at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Kim Cho-hee is delivering a stone. Photo by Yonhap News

The South Korean women's curling team competing in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics must secure at least three wins in the remaining matches starting from the 14th to advance to the semifinals. In particular, the decisive matches against the United States and Japan, held in the morning and afternoon respectively, are effectively the turning points that will determine medal acquisition. After a close game against China on the 13th that went into an extra end (overtime), South Korea lost 5-6, signaling a red light for their semifinal ambitions. Up to the 13th, South Korea had a record of 2 wins and 2 losses in the first four games.

In the women's curling event, which features 10 teams, each team faces every other team once, and the top four teams advance to the tournament stage. South Korea will play five matches from the 14th to the 17th. They need to add at least three wins to reach a minimum record of 5 wins and 4 losses to have a chance at advancing to the semifinals.

The match against the United States, held at the Beijing National Aquatics Center on this day, was tied 1-1 through the first three ends of a total of 10 ends as of 10:50 AM. The match against Japan, scheduled for 9:05 PM, is a critical turning point for reaching the semifinals and a battle for pride. Skip Kim Eun-jung said, "Since we have recently faced them, we will try to shake the Japanese team as much as possible."

Japan (3 wins, 1 loss) is one of the teams performing well in this tournament alongside Switzerland (5 wins). If South Korea defeats Japan, they can revive their hopes for the semifinals. The lineups for South Korea and Japan have remained almost unchanged since the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. South Korea is competing with the same Pyeongchang members, while Japan replaced Mari Motohashi with Kotomi Ishizaki. Four years ago, South Korea won the silver medal, and Japan took the bronze.