Women's Curling Team Set for Medal Hunt This Weekend
First-Ever Paid Spectators in Korean Curling... Achieving Remarkable Success
The 2025 LGT World Women's Curling Championship, the first international competition held in Uijeongbu City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Kim Dong-geun), is progressing smoothly with great success and the outstanding performance of the South Korean women's curling team.
The 2025 LGT World Women's Curling Championship, held for the first time in Uijeongbu City, is progressing smoothly with great success and excellent performance by the South Korean women's curling team. Photo by Uijeongbu City
The organizing committee of the 2025 LGT World Women's Curling Championship (hereinafter referred to as the organizing committee) announced that the South Korean women's curling national team has secured a spot for the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics through this tournament. The women's curling team secured their place in the playoffs regardless of the remaining match results by winning against Lithuania on the 20th, and they are scheduled to challenge for the first-ever gold medal in women's curling on the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd.
The women's curling national team from Gyeonggi Provincial Office, known as ‘5G’ (Skip Kim Eun-ji, Third Kim Min-ji, Second Kim Su-ji, Lead Seol Ye-eun, and Pips Seol Ye-ji), is performing well in the 2025 LGT World Women's Curling Championship held in their home ground. All team members graduated from Uijeongbu Songhyeon High School and have been active in the local area for a long time.
The team, which started the tournament with a victory in the Korea-Japan match, created a sensation by winning five consecutive games early in the competition. Notably, they defeated the world No. 1 ranked Canada and Italy, the host country of next year’s Winter Olympics, securing a playoff spot with a current record of 8 wins and 2 losses.
Having secured Olympic qualification points by finishing third in last year’s World Championship, the team has now entered the top 7 in this tournament, thereby officially securing their ticket to the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Lead Seol Ye-eun said, “We want to do our best in the remaining games and play without regrets among ourselves,” adding, “Our team is working really hard here in Uijeongbu. Since we are winning well, we would appreciate it if you could come to the Uijeongbu Ice Rink during the playoffs and cheer for us.”
Thanks to the outstanding performance of the women's curling team, this tournament has also been a great success in terms of attendance. It is the first international curling event to allow paid spectators since the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and has attracted the highest level of interest among curling events held domestically since then.
The 2025 LGT World Women's Curling Championship is being held for the first time in Uijeongbu City, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Uijeongbu City
On the opening day, the 15th, both sessions were fully booked, exceeding 100% seat occupancy. The average occupancy rate during the tournament also surpassed 50%, reflecting the strong interest in the event.
In particular, the daily ticket allowing up to three games per day and the ‘All Pass’ system, which grants access to all games for 70,000 KRW, received great responses from both domestic and international spectators. Fans from curling powerhouses such as Switzerland, Sweden, and Canada also enthusiastically cheered on-site, enhancing the tournament’s international prestige.
The organizing committee plans to strengthen safety measures on the 23rd, the day of the final, by preparing temporary restrooms, managing spectator flow, and deploying traffic police in anticipation of increased attendance.
Kim Jae-won, Secretary General of the organizing committee, expressed gratitude, saying, “We thank the spectators who visited the venue more than expected and the citizens of Uijeongbu,” and encouraged, “Please give lots of support during the playoffs to further empower the players who showed great performances in the round robin.”
Mayor Kim Dong-geun stated, “We appreciate the passionate support from the spectators, and the city will spare no effort to support the athletes so they can perform at their best.”
Meanwhile, the 2025 LGT World Women's Curling Championship is being held at the Uijeongbu Indoor Ice Rink from the 15th to the 23rd, with 13 countries ranked from No. 1 to No. 13 in the world competing to showcase the highest level of skill. This tournament serves as an important opportunity to promote South Korea and Uijeongbu City worldwide and is expected to have a positive impact on revitalizing the local economy.
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