SEOUL– The South Korean women’s curling team will take a crack at its second straight Olympic medal in Beijing in February.
Led by skip Kim Eun-jung, South Korea secured the final ticket to China up for grabs at the Olympic Qualification Event in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, on Saturday (local time).
South Korea held on for an 8-5 win over Latvia in the last playoff game, joining Britain and Japan as nations to qualify for Beijing 2022 in this last-chance tournament.
Nine countries entered the competition, and Britain claimed a spot in Beijing via round robin. South Korea, Japan and Latvia advanced to the playoffs for the remaining two berths.
Japan beat South Korea 8-5 in the first playoff match to qualify for Beijing. Then it was South Korea versus Latvia for the one final berth, and Team Kim came through on Saturday.
Kim and her teammates captured a surprise silver medal at PyeongChang 2018, where they emerged as unlikely darlings of the first Winter Olympics to take place in South Korea.
In Beijing, they will be the only South Korean curling team in action, with the men’s and mixed doubles teams both coming up short in the same Olympic Qualification Event.
South Korea is world No. 3 in women’s curling, behind only Sweden and Switzerland. South Korea lost to Sweden in the 2018 Olympic final, while Japan took home the bronze.
In Beijing, South Korea will be one of 10 teams in action, up against the host China, Denmark, Britain, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and the Russian Olympic Committee.
Source: Yonhap News Agency