Korea enjoys 2nd straight win in mixed doubles curling
Kim Seon-yeong of Korea sweeps during a round-robin match against Estonia in the mixed doubles curling tournament of the Winter Olympics at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Feb. 8. Reuters-Yonhap
MILAN — Korea defeated Estonia for its second consecutive victory in the mixed doubles curling tournament of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Sunday.
Kim Seon-yeong and Jeong Yeong-seok beat Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill of Estonia 9-3 at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, some 400 kilometers northeast of Milan.
Kim and Jeong lost their first five round-robin matches before beating the United States 6-5 on Saturday.
And the Korean duo built on that momentum, jumping out to a 3-0 lead after the first end thanks to a well-executed double takeout by Kim with her final stone.
Korea added two more points in the second end with Kaldvee's unsuccessful draw leaving two Korean stones near the button.
Estonia scored its first point in the third end but Korea responded with two points in the fourth end to grab a 7-1 lead, courtesy of Kim's draw.
Kim Seon-yeong, left and Jeong Yeong-seok of Korea look on during their round-robin match against Estonia in the mixed doubles curling tournament of the Winter Olympics at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Feb. 8. Reuters-Yonhap
Estonia grabbed a point in the fifth end, only to see Korea pull further ahead with two points in the next end with Kim's clearing shot giving her team a 9-2 lead.
Estonia scored one point in the seventh end but then conceded the match with one end remaining.
Korea improved to 2-5 but is unlikely to crack the top four of this 10-team competition and advance to the semifinals.
For their second match of Sunday, Kim and Jeong will take on Jocelyn Peterman and Brett Gallant of Canada.
Gallant is the son of former Korean women's national team coach Peter Gallant. Kim was on the women's team with the senior Gallant at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
Korea will close out the round-robin phase on Monday against Norway.