Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – The South Korean women’s curling team stands on the precipice of a semifinal berth at the Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics, with a crucial final round-robin match against Canada looming. After a dramatic , which saw them overcome a recent loss to Switzerland with a decisive victory over Sweden, the team’s fate now rests on a single game.
The Korean team, skipped by Kim Eun-ji, currently holds a record of five wins and three losses, tied with the United States and Canada. All three teams face pivotal matches that will determine their playoff destinies. Sweden, already assured of a semifinal spot with a record of seven wins and two losses, and Switzerland, also with six wins and two losses, have secured their places in the next round.
The path to the semifinals for South Korea is straightforward: a win against Canada on night (Korean time) guarantees their advancement. The Canadian team, led by skip Rachel Homan, is ranked second in the world, presenting a formidable challenge.
However, a loss to Canada complicates matters significantly. In that scenario, South Korea’s fate would depend on the outcomes of the remaining matches involving the United States and Great Britain. If the United States were to defeat Switzerland and Great Britain were to overcome Italy, a three-way tie would emerge between South Korea, the United States, and Great Britain, all with five wins and four losses. The tie-breaker would then fall to a complex system of head-to-head results and, the Draw Shot Challenge (DSC).
The DSC, a metric used to determine ranking in the event of ties, measures the accuracy of a team’s last stone draw – how closely they can place a stone to the center of the house. The lower the DSC score, the better. According to the World Curling Federation’s official records as of the end of the eighth end of play, Great Britain currently leads with an average DSC of 16.764 centimeters, followed by Switzerland. South Korea currently ranks third with a DSC of 20.064 centimeters, while the United States is seventh at 37.621 centimeters.
The DSC is calculated as an average across multiple games, making it difficult to significantly alter in a single match. Closing the gap of approximately three centimeters would require both a strong performance from South Korea and a less accurate showing from Great Britain. In curling, even a difference of one or two centimeters can be decisive.
The Korean team’s victory over Sweden on was a significant boost to their Olympic campaign. They defeated the three-time Olympic champions 8-3, demonstrating resilience after their earlier defeat to Switzerland. Team 5G, as the Korean team is known, dominated the early stages of the game, scoring three points in the first end and extending their lead to 8-0 after four ends through a series of successful steals – scoring points without the hammer (last stone advantage).
Sweden’s skip, Anna Hasselborg, attempted an aggressive strategy but struggled with key shots, ultimately conceding the match after scoring three points in the fifth, sixth, and seventh ends. The Korean team is comprised of Kim Eun-ji, Kim Min-ji, Seol Ye-ji, Seol Ye-eun, and Kim Su-ji.
Earlier in the tournament, on , South Korea secured a 10-9 victory over China, adding another win to their record. This followed a bronze medal win for South Korean short track speed skater Kim Gil-li in the women’s 1,000 meters, bringing the nation’s total medal count to six – one gold, two silver, and three bronze.
The outcome of the Canada-South Korea match will not only determine the Korean team’s fate but also have broader implications for the tournament’s semifinal lineup. The stakes are high as the Winter Olympics enter its final week, and the competition for a place among the top four intensifies.
