South Korea's world-ranked No. 1 wheelchair curling mixed doubles team of Baek Hye-jin (43) and Lee Yong-seok (42, both of Gyeonggi Provincial Sports Association for the Disabled) has secured at least a silver medal after advancing to the final.
The pair defeated the United States (world No. 5) 6-3 in the semifinal at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Italy on March 10 local time at the 2026 Milano-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Paralympics.
With this victory, Baek and Lee have surpassed their silver medal achievement from the 2010 Vancouver Games and now stand on the verge of winning the first-ever Paralympic gold medal in Korean wheelchair curling history.
South Korea had dominated the U.S. in the preliminary round with a 10-1 concession victory in six ends, but the semifinal proved to be a closely contested eight-end match.
Korea took early control, scoring two points first. After conceding one point, they quickly added two more to maintain their lead.
The teams then traded single points, and Korea faced a potential multi-point deficit in the sixth end while leading 6-2. However, Baek's clutch shot averted the crisis, and Korea ultimately secured the 6-3 victory.
South Korea will face China (world No. 6), widely considered the sport's dominant force, in the gold medal match at 10:35 p.m. Korean time on March 11.
While China ranks lower than South Korea in mixed doubles standings, they are regarded as the world's strongest nation in wheelchair curling overall.
South Korea lost to China 6-10 in the preliminary round of this tournament.