Cortina d'ampezzo: South Korea upset the United States for its first victory in the mixed doubles curling tournament of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Saturday, snapping its five-match losing streak in the process. Kim Seon-yeong and Jeong Yeong-seok defeated Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin of the United States by the score of 6-5 in an extra end at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, some 400 kilometers northeast of Milan.
According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korea remained in last place with a 1-5 record, having earlier lost to Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, Britain, and the Czech Republic. The U.S. dropped to 4-2. South Korea must win its three remaining round-robin matches against Estonia, Canada, and Norway to have any shot at squeezing into the semifinals.
South Korea opened up a 2-0 lead after two ends against the U.S. The teams traded a point apiece over the next four ends, and South Korea took a 5-2 advantage into the final end. Pushed to the brink of their second loss of the tournament, the Americans drew even with three points thanks to Thiesse's promotion takeout that sent the match into an extra end. Kim then scored the clinching point for South Korea with a draw on her final stone.
Earlier Saturday, Kim and Jeong fell to Julie Zelingrova and Vt Chabicovsky of the Czech Republic by 9-4. South Korea and Czechia had been the only two teams without a victory in this 10-team competition prior to this match. The Czechs scored two points right off the bat in the first end. South Korea pulled even with a point each in the second end and the third end, but then Czechia responded with two points in the fourth end and two more in the next end.
South Korea fought back with two points in the sixth end to make it a 6-4 match, thanks to Kim's successful takeout with her final stone. But the Czechs extended their lead to 9-4 when Zelingrova's last stone wiped out the lone South Korean stone in the house. South Korea conceded the match before the eighth end was completed.