(Olympics) S. Korea blames big curling loss on poor execution

▲ South Korean curlers Kim Seon-yeong, Kim Eun-jung, Kim Cho-hi and Kim Kyeong-ae (L to R) take a moment during a women's curling round-robin match against Switzerland at the Beijing Winter Olympics at the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing on Feb. 16, 2022. (Yonhap)

▲ Kim Seon-yeong (L) and Kim Cho-hi of South Korea sweep the ice during a women's curling round-robin match against Switzerland at the Beijing Winter Olympics at the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing on Feb. 16, 2022. (Yonhap)

▲ South Korean skip Kim Eun-jung delivers a stone during a women's curling round-robin match against Switzerland at the Beijing Winter Olympics at the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing on Feb. 16, 2022. (Yonhap)

(Olympics) curling loss-reaction

(Olympics) S. Korea blames big curling loss on poor execution

By Yoo Jee-ho

BEIJING, Feb. 16 (Yonhap) -- It's one thing to have strong game plans but quite another to execute them.

The South Korean women's curling team learned that the hard way on Wednesday, as it lost to Switzerland 8-4 at Beijing 2022 to drop to 3-4 in the round robin.

South Korea is now in seventh place in the 10-team competition with two games left. The top-four teams after nine round-robin games each will advance to the semifinals, and South Korea, the 2018 silver medalist, is in a dogfight for a spot. South Korea will take on Denmark later Wednesday and close out the round-robin session against Sweden on Thursday.

The turning point in Wednesday's loss came in the fifth end, when Switzerland grabbed three points to open up a 4-2 lead.

With two Swiss stones in the house, South Korean skip Kim Eun-jung tried to sneak her last rock behind the opposition stones. The shot instead ended up in the center of the house, completely exposed for an easy takeout by Alina Paetz with the hammer. Paetz's final shot gave the Swiss three go-ahead points.

"I don't think my shotmaking was that bad," Kim said rather defensively. "But I am going to have to review some of the mistakes from this game and try to learn from them for the next game."

Coach Peter Gallant said he was fine with Kim's decision to go for that draw in the fifth end, though the execution left much to be desired.

"She felt the draw was the shot she was most comfortable with at the time. It just didn't work out," Gallant said. "Nothing wrong with the call. Just had to make the shot in the fifth end. We were playing against one of the best teams in the world. They take advantage of your mistakes."

Switzerland has qualified for the semifinals at 7-1. Sweden is in second place at 5-2, and Canada and Japan are tied for third at 4-3.

Then it's Britain and the United States, both at 4-4, right above South Korea.

Gallant called the upcoming Denmark game a "do or die" situation. Lim said he hadn't abandoned hopes of advancing to the final four.

Kim Cho-hi, the team's second, also wasn't about to give up.

"It's a shame we lost to Switzerland, but we still have two more games left," she said. "We'll have to bear down and overcome this adversity."

(END)

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