Olympics-Curling-South Korea ease past Sweden to keep playoff hopes alive

By Aadi Nair

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Gim Eun-ji’s South Korea claimed an impressive 8-3 win over round-robin leaders Sweden on Wednesday in the women’s curling competition at the Winter Olympics to remain in the hunt for a top-four finish and a spot in the semi-finals.

South Korea made a quick start to the game, bagging a three-pointer in the first end and then stealing five points over the next three ends to hand Anna Hasselborg’s side just their second defeat of the competition.

“We got the first three straight steals when they missed them, so we seized on a good opportunity, and that’s why we got that good score. I felt great about the win,” Gim said.

Sweden, who are top of the standings with six wins and two defeats, have already qualified for the semi-finals.

South Korea are joint-third in the standings with five wins and three defeats, alongside Tabitha Peterson’s United States, who were beaten 8-7 by Britain.

Madeleine Dupont’s Denmark are also in the running for the semi-final spots after beating China 8-7 to pick up their fourth win.

Teams play nine matches in the round-robin stage, which continues later on Wednesday. The top four advance to the semi-finals this week.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair, additional reporting by Heejin Kim in SeoulEditing by Christian Radnedge)