Korea falls to Switzerland 7-5 in women’s curling

Seol Ye-eun, left, and Kim Min-ji of Korea sweep the ice during a round-robin match against Switzerland in the women’s curling tournament at the Winter Olympics at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Feb. 17. [YONHAP]

 

Korea lost to Switzerland 7-5 in the women’s curling tournament at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games on Tuesday for its third loss in seven matches so far.

 

Gim Eun-ji’s Korea got the first point in the opening end at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo, northeast of Milan, before Silvana Tirinzoni’s Switzerland put up a three-spot in the second end with Alina Paetz’s promotion takeout with her team’s final stone.

 


But Korea tied the score with a point each in the third end and the fourth end.

 

Switzerland regained its lead with a point in the sixth end and then stole a point in the seventh end to grab a 5-3 lead after Gim’s failed double takeout attempt left a Swiss stone close to the button.

 

Korea fought back with a point in the eighth end, only to see Switzerland pull ahead with two points in the ninth end with Paetz’s double takeout.

 

Korea pushed for a three-point rally in the 10th end, but another double takeout by Paetz foiled that bid, forcing Korea to settle for one point instead.

 

Korea’s record dropped to 4-3, while Switzerland improved to 5-2.

 

The top four teams after nine round-robin matches will qualify for the semifinals scheduled for Friday.

 

Korea now has two more round-robin contests left — against Sweden on Wednesday and Canada on Thursday.

 

Canada defeated Sweden 8-6 on Tuesday to push its record to 4-3. Sweden is now 6-1.

Yonhap