Korea falls to United States for 2nd straight loss in women's curling
Korea's Kim Seon-yeong sweeps ahead of the stone during the women's curling round robin session 7 game between the United States and Korea at the National Aquatics Centre, Feb. 14, during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. AFP-Yonhap
South Korea lost to the United States 8-6 in the women's curling tournament at Beijing 2022, Monday, as its hopes of reaching the semifinals faded further with a second straight loss.
This was the first of two games scheduled Monday for South Korea, the 2018 silver medalist that dropped to 2-3 in Beijing. It will face Japan at 8:05 p.m. (local time) at the National Aquatics Centre.
Japan defeated China 10-2 in its Monday morning session to improve to 4-1 for the tournament.
The 10 teams in the competition will each play nine round-robin games, and the top four will reach the semifinals.
The teams had a blank first end, and South Korea got the first point in the second end, thanks to skip Kim Eun-jung's draw with the hammer.
South Korea could have stolen a point in the third end after taking advantage of some early U.S. miscues. But the American skip Tabitha Peterson landed her final stone safely inside the house, just a tiny bit closer to the button than the closest South Korean stone, for the game-tying point.
South Korea went up 2-1 with a point in the fourth end, though the team missed a couple of shots that could have set up a chance for two points in that frame.
The U.S. only managed one point in the fifth end despite holding the hammer, and the teams were tied at 2-2 at the halfway point.
Becca Hamilton of the United States reacts during the women's round robin session 7 game of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games curling competition between the United States and Korea at the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing, Feb. 14. AFP-Yonhap
The sixth end proved to be pivotal. South Korea held the hammer, but Kim made consecutive mistakes with her final two shots to hand the U.S. three crucial points and trail 5-2.
With her second-to-last stone, Kim couldn't get her draw shot into the house, as it bumped into another South Korean stone on the way.
Then with the final shot, Kim once again failed to send the stone into the scoring area or take out one of three U.S. stones there.
Kim atoned for those mistakes in the seventh end, securing two points with the hammer thanks to a perfect takeout shot and cutting the deficit to 5-4.
In the eighth end, Kim's last stone stopped just shy of the button, and Peterson, holding the hammer, rolled her shot in the center of the house for two more points for the U.S.
South Korea wouldn't go down without a fight, cutting it to 7-6 in the ninth end thanks to Kim's successful takeout.
But the U.S. held the hammer in the final end and played it safe, before picking up the final point with Peterson's last shot. (Yonhap)