[BEIJING OLYMPICS] S. Korea loses to China in women's curling

BEIJING -- South Korea fell to China 6-5 for its second loss in the women's curling tournament at Beijing 2022 on Sunday, as its winning streak came to an end at two.

China scored the decisive point with the last stone, or the hammer, in the extra end after the teams were deadlocked at 5-5 through 10 ends at the National Aquatics Centre.

After losing to Canada to open the tournament Thursday, South Korea had beaten Britain and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in succession.

But South Korea, led by skip Kim Eun-jung, didn't display quite the shotmaking Sunday that it enjoyed in a 9-5 win over the ROC the previous afternoon.

South Korea, the 2018 silver medalist, will play two matches Monday: against the United States in the morning and then Japan in the night cap.

South Korea opened with two points in the first end, but China scored one point each in the second and third ends.

South Korea regained its lead with a point in the fourth end, only to see China pull even at 3-3 in the fifth end with the hammer.

South Korea picked up a point in the sixth end, but China took a 5-4 lead in the eighth end, scoring two points with the final stone.

South Korea fought back with a point in the 10th end to force an extra end. But then China held the last shot in the extra session and took full advantage by executing a successful takeout for the winning point.

"Against the host country, things would have turned out better if we'd stayed focused through the very end," Kim Eun-jung said.

"Overall, though, it was not such a bad match for us. We took a tight contest into extra time."

There are 10 teams in the competition, and the top four nations after nine round-robin games each will qualify for the semifinals.

Through Sunday, Switzerland was in first place at a perfect 5-0, followed by Japan at 3-1. Britain, Sweden and the United States were tied at 3-2, with South Korea in sixth place at 2-2.

If South Korea are to repeat its Olympic glory from four years ago, Monday's double header will be crucial. Head coach Lim Myung-sup predicted his team may have to win three or four games out of the remaining five to reach the semifinals, a tall task since South Korea has not yet played Switzerland and the defending champion Sweden.

Kim said she and her teammates are accustomed to playing two games a day, and they'll just have to follow their tried and tested routines.

South Korea has a budding rivalry with Japan in women's curling. En route to winning silver in 2018, South Korea knocked off Japan, led by skip Satsuki Fujisawa, in the semifinals.

Fujisawa is back for Japan, which beat South Korea twice in the Olympic Qualification Event in December to almost keep its East Asian rival out of Beijing 2022.

Kim said she won't have to prepare anything special just because she will face Fujisawa and Japan.

"We played each other recently, and so we know what it's like to play them," Kim said. "We'll try our best to come out on top." (Yonhap)