Korea suffers 2nd straight loss in mixed doubles curling

Kim Seon-yeong, top, and Jeong Yeong-seok of South Korea compete in a round-robin match of the mixed doubles curling tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics against Italy at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Thursday (local time). Yonhap

MILAN — South Korea endured its second consecutive loss in the mixed doubles curling tournament of the Winter Olympics in northern Italy on Thursday.

The team of Kim Seon-yeong and Jeong Yeong-seok fell to the defending champions from Italy, Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner, by 8-4 at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, some 400 kilometers northeast of Milan.

Kim and Jeong, who had opened their tournament with a 10-3 loss to Sweden the previous day, are now in an early 0-2 hole in the round-robin phase with seven more matches to go.

They will play the Swiss couple of Briar Schwaller-Huerlimann and Yannick Schwaller later Thursday. Switzerland beat Estonia 9-7 to begin their Olympics on Wednesday.

The top four teams after round-robin action will qualify for the semifinals scheduled for Monday. The bronze medal match and the final will be Tuesday.

Against Italy, South Korea opened the scoring with a point in the first end, courtesy of Kim's takeout with her final stone. But then Italy scored six unanswered points over the next three ends to take control of the match.

South Korea got a point back in the fifth end, only to see Italy respond with two points in the next end. South Korea's two points in the seventh end proved too little, too late.