Korea suffers 1st loss at women's curling in world championship game against Switzerland
Korean skip Gim Eun-ji, center, releases the stone during the team's round-robin match against China during the LGT World Women's Curling Championship at Uijeongbu Indoor Ice Rink in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. Yonhap
The host nation South Korea took its first loss of the women's curling world championship against Switzerland on Tuesday.
Led by skip Gim Eun-ji, world No. 10 South Korea lost to second-ranked Switzerland 9-6 in the round robin at the LGT World Women's Curling Championship at Uijeongbu Indoor Ice Rink in Uijeongbu, some 20 kilometers north of Seoul.
South Korea had won its first five matches before running into Silvana Tirinzoni's team. At 5-1, South Korea is in second place among 13 teams in the round robin, with Switzerland leading the way as the only undefeated team at 6-0.
South Korea will next play world No. 1 Canada, led by skip Rachel Homan, at 9 a.m. Wednesday, followed by Denmark at 2 p.m. the same day.
The 13 teams in the competition will play each other once in the round robin and the top six will qualify for the playoff round. The two best teams will each receive a bye to the semifinals, and the remaining four teams will compete for the last two semifinal berths.
The qualification matches and the semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, followed by the bronze medal contest and the championship final on Sunday.
South Korea is trying to win its first gold at the women's curling world championship. It won silver in 2022, and bronze in 2019 and 2024.
After two blank ends, South Korea scored three points in the third end and held a 4-1 lead through five ends.
However, Switzerland responded with two points in the sixth end and two more in the seventh end to take a 5-4 lead.
Trailing 7-6 through nine ends, South Korea had the hammer for the final end, a chance to stage a late comeback. However, Gim failed to execute a raise with her final stone and ended up handing two points to Switzerland.
At this world championship, South Korea is also trying to secure a spot at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. The top seven teams in points earned from the 2024 and 2025 world championships will book their spots in Milan, and South Korea is in a good position after collecting 11 points with its bronze medal at last year's world championship. (Yonhap)