Korean Curling Mixed Doubles Suffer Crushing Defeat to Swedish Siblings in Round Robin Opener

South Korea's curling mixed doubles team of Kim Sun-young (Gangneung City Hall) and Jung Young-seok (Gangwon Provincial Office), competing as the vanguard of the Korean delegation at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, bowed out in a crushing defeat in their opening match.

Kim and Jung lost 3-10 to Sweden's Isabella Wranå and Rasmus Wranå in their first round robin match at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, on Friday.

In curling mixed doubles, a two-person mixed-gender event, 10 teams compete in a round robin format, with the top four advancing to the semifinals to determine final standings. Kim and Jung began their round robin campaign with a loss.

Isabella Wranå and Rasmus Wranå, who handed Kim and Jung their first defeat, are siblings who teamed up to win the 2024 World Championship.

Kim and Jung took an early lead, scoring one point with the hammer in the first end.

They maintained a 3-2 advantage through the second and third ends, exchanging two points each.

However, they faltered in the fourth end, conceding three points, then surrendered four more in the fifth end to fall behind 3-9.

Kim and Jung attempted a comeback by deploying their power play in the sixth end but gave up another point and failed to close the gap, ultimately conceding defeat at 3-10.

The power play is a mixed doubles rule that allows the team with the hammer to move the two pre-positioned stones—placed outside the house for the team without hammer and inside for the team with hammer—to a more favorable lateral position before the first throw.

Kim and Jung will face host nation Italy at 10:05 a.m. and Switzerland at 7:05 p.m. on Saturday at the same venue for their second and third round robin matches.

Shortly after the match began, all arena lights except for some ceiling fixtures went out, causing a roughly five-minute stoppage. The Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium was built in the 1950s and hosted the opening ceremony, figure skating, and ice hockey events during the 1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics.