Seoul: South Korea lost its final match of the mixed doubles curling tournament at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Monday. Kim Seon-yeong and Jeong Yeong-seok faced Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten of Norway in a decisive game, where they were defeated by a score of 8-5 at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, located approximately 400 kilometers northeast of Milan, thereby concluding their participation in the round-robin stage.
According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korea finished the competition with a record of 3-6, having lost its first five matches and then securing victories in the next three. Kim and Jeong seemed set for a fourth consecutive win but ultimately squandered a 5-2 lead against the Norwegian team. South Korea had already been eliminated from knockout contention on Sunday night, even after securing back-to-back wins against Estonia and Canada earlier that day.
In their match against Norway, South Korea initially established a 3-0 lead after the first two ends. However, Norway narrowed the gap to 3-2 in the third end. Kim managed a perfect draw to the button in the fourth end, extending South Korea’s lead to 4-2. The lead grew further to 5-2 when Skaslien missed a takeout with her final stone. Nonetheless, Norway leveled the score with three points in the sixth end, capitalizing on their power play.
South Korea attempted to regain the lead by calling a power play in the seventh end. Despite having a promising chance to score at least one point with Kim holding the final stone, a violation was called on Kim for not releasing the stone before it reached the hog line. This error allowed Norway to gain two points, as they had two stones closer to the button than South Korea. Norway then secured an additional point in the final end, sealing their victory.