Team Kim, the women’s national curling team, took the runner-up place at the World Championships with the best record in Korean curling history, brushing off the regrets of failing to win a medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. This is the first time that Korea has won a silver medal at the World Championships, the second most prestigious international event after the Olympics, in both men’s and women’s quadruple and mixed duo events. Skip Kim Eun-jung said, “I am proud that Korea has reached the final on the global stage and can play like this.”
Kim Eun-jung (skip) Kim Seon-young (lead) Kim Kyung-ae (third) Kim Cho-hee (second) Kim Young-mi (candidate, Lee Sang-si, Gangneung City Hall), the team Kim, was held at the World Curling Federation (WCF) 2022 Women’s Curling World held in Prince George, Canada on the 28th (Korea time). They lost 6-7 to Switzerland in the championship final.
Tim Kim had a tight match against the difficult opponent Switzerland. In the second end, they conceded three points to Switzerland first, but after that, they continued to chase Switzerland and played a great game. In the 7th end, which was 3–5 behind, we made a tie by scoring 2 points, and conceded 1 point in the 8th end, but added 1 point in the 9th end to bring the game back to the beginning.
In the last 10 end, Switzerland, who was behind the scenes, had an advantage. Tim Kim’s strategy was aimed at making mistakes, but it didn’t work for the seasoned Swiss. In the end, Tim Kim, who allowed one point, lost unfortunately.
Failing to overcome the Swiss wall and experiencing defeat just before the summit, Tim Kim wrote a new history in Korean curling once again with the best record ever of being runner-up. The previous best record at the World Championships was the third place recorded by Tim Minji at the 2019 World Championships. After the match, Kim Eun-jung said, “In the beginning, it was a play that continued to follow by giving me three points. In the end, I was proud to lead the game until the last tie by catching up with two points.”
Previously, Tim Kim set a milestone in Korean curling with a silver medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. After many twists and turns, she managed to get the right to participate, but she failed to advance to the semifinals because she lacked just one win at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
But Tim Kim was not discouraged. He made a splendid resurgence at the World Championships held a month after the closing of the Olympics. Team Kim was on a winning streak until the 6th round of the qualifying rounds of this tournament. In the 7th and 9th games, they lost three consecutive games to European powerhouses Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland, but they regrouped. In the end, they won a come-back victory against Canada after extra time and secured a place in the quarterfinals with victories in the 11th and 12th games in a row. Tim Kim, who met Canada again in the semi-finals, again overturned the game in the 9th and stole two points in the final 10th, making it to the finals of the world championship for the first time in Korean curling history.
Dongsoon Choi reporter dosool@hankookilbo.com
