South Korea’s women’s curling team known as “5G” kept its push for the semifinals alive by defeating Sweden in seven ends.
World No. 3 South Korea — skip Kim Eun-ji, third Kim Min-ji, second Kim Su-ji, lead Seol Ye-eun and fifth Seol Ye-ji — beat Sweden 8-3 in its eighth round-robin game of the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics on the 18th (Korea time) at the Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
Sweden, the most successful nation in Olympic women’s curling, opened these Games with six straight wins and had already clinched a semifinal berth. After securing that spot the previous day, Sweden made a series of mistakes against South Korea.
With the hammer in the first end, South Korea loaded three stones into the house, then Kim Eun-ji used the final stone to knock out Sweden’s second shot stone for three points. South Korea added one more in the second end after Sweden skip Anna Hasselborg missed her final draw.
Sweden faltered further as the deficit grew to 4-0. In the third end, Hasselborg tried a double takeout with her seventh stone to remove two South Korean stones near the button but missed, and South Korea scored two to make it 6-0. South Korea added two more in the fourth for an 8-0 lead, then allowed one point in the fifth end.
In the sixth, South Korea had a chance to score but chose to give up one to keep last-stone advantage for the next end, making it 8-2. Sweden scored one more in the seventh as it used a center-guard setup, but South Korea managed the end calmly. Sweden then offered handshakes, judging a comeback unlikely.
South Korea improved to 5-3 in group play and will face Canada on the 19th in its final round-robin game, with the top four teams advancing to the semifinals.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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