S. Korean women’s curling team beats Japan to advance to finals

February 23, 2018

By Kim Boram

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, Feb. 23 (Yonhap) — South Korea defeated Japan on Friday and advanced to the PyeongChang Olympics women’s curling finals for the first time.

In the semifinals held at the Pyeongchang Curling Centre, the quartet led by skip, or captain, Kim Eun-jung, pulled off an 8-7 victory over Japan, which gave the only loss to the home team in the previous round robin session.

With the triumph, South Korea secured at least a silver medal in curling, bagging the first-ever Olympic medal in the sport on home soil.

It became the first Asian country to obtain a ticket for the finals at the Olympics.

In the gold-medal decider on Sunday, South Korea will take on Sweden, which beat Britain in the another side of the draw. In round robin play, South Korea edged out Sweden 7-6.

South Korean curlers sweep the ice sheet in the PyeongChang Winter Games women's curling semifinals against Japan at the Gangneung Curling Centre on Feb. 23, 2018. (Yonhap) South Korean curlers sweep the ice sheet in the PyeongChang Winter Games women’s curling semifinals against Japan at the Gangneung Curling Centre on Feb. 23, 2018. (Yonhap)

brk@yna.co.kr