South Korea women’s curling team falls to U.S. in Olympic round-robin opener

South Korea’s women’s curling team, ranked No. 3 in the world, lost its first round-robin game at the 2026 Milan·Cortina Winter Olympics. [Photo=Yonhap·Reuters]

South Korea’s women’s curling team, Gyeonggi Province, ranked No. 3 in the world, opened the 2026 Milan·Cortina Winter Olympics round-robin with a loss.

Skip Kim Eun-ji, third Kim Min-ji, second Kim Su-ji, lead Seol Ye-eun and fifth Seol Ye-ji fell 8-4 to the United States on Feb. 12 (Korean time) at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

In women’s curling, 10 teams play nine round-robin games, with the top four advancing to the semifinals.

South Korea started well, scoring one point in each of the second and third ends to lead 2-0. The U.S. tied it in the fourth end with two points.

Trailing 3-2, South Korea had the hammer in the seventh but gave up two when Kim Eun-ji’s final stone did not settle in the button, stretching the deficit to 5-2.

South Korea answered with two in the eighth to close within 5-4, then limited the damage to one in the ninth. Down 6-4 in the 10th, it tried to rally, but Kim’s final double-takeout attempt missed, and South Korea surrendered two more to finish 8-4.

South Korea plays host Italy in its second round-robin game on the morning of Feb. 13.

* This article has been translated by AI.

Kang Sang Heon ksh@ajunews.com