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Curling team misses podium

March 24, 2014

Korea’s leads Um Min-ji, left, and Lee Suel-bee react after their teammate’s shot missed a target during their bronze medal game against Russia at the World Women’s Curling Championships in Saint John, New Brunswick, Sunday. (Reuters-Yonhap)

By Jung Min-ho

Korea’s women curlers reached the world championship semifinals for the second time ever but failed to mount the podium after a 7-6 loss to Russia, Monday (KST).

At the Ford World Women’s Curling Championship in Saint John, Canada, Korea’s first medal seemed within reach when the team of Kim Ji-sun, Gim Un-chi, Shin Mi-sung, Lee Seul-bee and Um Min-ji, were leading Russia by two points in the ninth end.

But Russia countered with two in the 10th and stole a point in the extra end to turn the competition around, taking its first world championship bronze medal.

Against the opponents they defeated 8-4 at the Sochi Games, the Koreans exposed a lack of strategy in their offense and lost concentration. For Russia, it was a moment of sweet revenge.

Still, the fourth-place finish is remarkable achievement for Korea where only 700 athletes are registered with the nation’s curling federation. The country has yet to build its first curling venue. In comparison, Canada, the nation that won the silver medal, has approximately 1,000 affiliated curling clubs and close to one million Canadians play the sport each year.

Russia led 3-1 before the seventh end, where Korea tied the score to 3-3. After allowing one point in the next end, Korea went ahead in the ninth end by scoring three to make it to 6-4.

But the determined Russians sent the game into overtime, in which Gim was guilty of making a critical error by missing a target with the game’s final stone, awarding one easy point to Russia. She dropped her head in dismay.

Switzerland won its second world title in three years after beating Canada 9-5 in the final.

Canada led 5-3 in the seventh end, only to lose three points in the next on their own mistakes. Additional errors in the ninth widened the gap to four.

“I can’t speak,’ Swiss skipper Feltscher was quoted as saying. “I don’t know, maybe I can say something tomorrow. Today I have no words. No words.”

At the 2012 world championships, Korea upset Vancouver Olympic champion Sweden 9-8 to make it to the semifinals for the first time.

This little known sport in Korea drew extensive attention during the Sochi Games, where the country competed in the event for the first time on the Olympic stage. Korea finished eighth in a field of 10 but won the hearts of many television viewers.