Main Korean delegation to Asian Winter Games arrives in Harbin
Athletes and officials in the main batch of the Korean delegation for the Asian Winter Games show their fists during a photo session at Incheon International Airport before their departure, Feb. 4, in this photo provided by the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee. Yonhap
The main batch of Korean athletes competing in the ninth Asian Winter Games arrived in the host city of Harbin on Tuesday, three days before the opening ceremony.
With the preliminary action under way and more to come in the days leading up to the ceremony, several Korean athletes are already in the northeastern Chinese city. The men's and women's hockey teams arrived here last Saturday, followed by short track speed skaters on Sunday and speed skaters on Monday.
Tuesday's group featured Korea Ski Snowboard Association President Choi Hong-hoon, the country's chef de mission in Harbin, along with 13 cross-country skiers and 15 officials from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC). Alpine skiers, snowboarders and freestyle skiers will travel to Harbin on Wednesday.
According to the KSOC, Korea will have 148 athletes in total competing in all six sports — skiing, skating, curling, hockey, biathlon and ski mountaineering.
At the opening ceremony, male hockey player Lee Chong-min and female curler Gim Eun-ji will be the co-flag bearers for Korea.
This is the first Asian Winter Games since 2017, when Korea finished second to the host country Japan in the medal race with 16 gold medals, 18 silver medals and 16 bronze medals.
The round-robin phase of the mixed doubles curling tournament began Tuesday, and the Korean duo of Kim Kyeong-ae and Seong Ji-hoon split their first two Group B matches at Harbin Pingfang Curling Arena.
In the opener, Korea lost to the Philippines 12-6, after allowing five points in the first end.
In the afternoon session, Korea beat Qatar 14-1, highlighted by a five-point fifth end.
The competition will continue Wednesday, with Korea taking on Kazakhstan. Kim and Seong will then play China and Kyrgyzstan on Thursday.
Kim was a member of the Korean women's team that captured a surprise silver medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
After round robin, the winners of Groups A and B will advance directly to the semifinals. The two remaining spots will go to winners of playoff matches between the Group A runner-up and the third seed from Group B, and between the Group B runner-up and the third seed from Group A.
The semifinals will be Friday, followed by both the bronze medal and the gold medal contests Saturday. (Yonhap)