GANGNEUNG, Gangwon Province -- The unified Korean team lost to Sweden 8-0 in their second women’s hockey preliminary, but despite the crushing defeat, the crowd was kept on the edge of their seats throughout the match.
Some very near misses and jostling near the Swedish team's post sent the Korean crowd on a rollercoaster ride from ear-splitting exclamations to collective groans.
Shouts of “Himnaera (hang in there)” echoed the Kwandong Hockey Centre, to support and encourage both South and North Korean hockey players.
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North Korean cheering squad (Lim Jeong-yeo/The Korea Herald) |
Sweden took Korea by the scruff of the neck from the outset, scoring four goals in the first period. The Korean team stemmed the tide somewhat in the second period, letting in just one goal, but Sweden pressed home with three more before the end.
This was not the first time Unified Korea had lost to Sweden. During a friendly between the two sides at Seon Hak Ice Rink in Incheon before the Olympics, Sweden won 3-0.The occasion had been the unified team's first chance to play together in an actual game before the Olympics.
The North Korean cheerleaders added to the atmosphere, with ceaseless chanting, including "Woori minjokkiri" ("Our people together"), and "Woori-neun hanada” (We are one).
The squad also sang "Arirang" and several other iconic Korean folk numbers.
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(Lim Jeong-yeo/The Korea Herald) |
People crowded round to take videos of the women, and some took eager selfies. The authorities accompanying the squad did not try to stop the crowd from using their cameras, but told them to keep low so that they did not block the view of the rink.
South Koreans and North Koreans alike chanted “himnaera (hang in there)” throughout the game. Several Mexican waves started by the North Korean cheerleaders lapped the arena.
South Korean K-pop songs also filled the arena intermittently, and scantily-clad South Korean cheerleaders performed dances during the intermissions, in stark contrast to the North Korean squad's more conservative routines of traditional dancing and flag-waving.
But it wasn’t all about Korea. During one of the breaks a man got down on one knee and proposed to the woman he came to the game with. The proposal, and the acceptance and kiss that followed was put up on the screen above the ice rink for everyone to see and cheer for.
The unified team is playing next on Wednesday against Japan. Japan lost 8-0 to Switzerland earlier on Monday.
By Lim Jeong-yeo (
kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)
