Harbin: South Korea advanced to the semifinals of the men’s curling tournament at the Asian Winter Games in China on Tuesday. Led by skip Lee Jae-beom, South Korea clinched the top spot in Group A after routing Kazakhstan 12-2 for its fourth consecutive victory at Harbin Pingfang District Curling Arena in Harbin.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the teams were tied at 2-2 through four ends, before South Korea scored the next 10 points — two points in the fifth end, and then four points each in the sixth and seventh ends. In the men’s competition, winners of Groups A and B move on to the semifinals, while the second- and third-ranked teams from the groups will meet in the qualification matches to fight for the two remaining spots in the semifinals.
Those qualification games will start at 2 p.m. Thursday in Harbin, while the semifinals are set for a 7 p.m. start on the same day. Both the bronze medal game and the gold medal game will be Friday, the final day of the ninth Winter Asiad.
Curling made its Asian Games debut in 2003 and was contested again in 2007. It was dropped from the program in 2011 before returning in 2017. South Korea won the first two men’s gold medals in 2003 and 2007, and then settled for bronze in 2011.