South Korea Routs Sweden 8-3, Eyes Semifinals in Women's Curling

South Korea's women's curling team boosted its semifinal hopes at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics qualifying round by defeating first-place Sweden.

World No. 3 South Korea—comprising skip Kim Eun-ji, third Kim Min-ji, second Kim Su-ji, lead Seol Ye-eun, and fifth Seol Ye-ji—secured an 8-3 victory over Sweden (world No. 4) in just seven ends at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, on January 18 (Korea time).

With a 5-3 record, South Korea will face Canada at 10:05 p.m. on January 19 in the final round-robin match, vying for one of four semifinal berths. Canada currently sits in fifth place with a 4-3 record.

A victory over Canada would secure South Korea's direct advancement to the semifinals, while a loss would leave the team dependent on other results. If both teams finish tied for fourth place, their head-to-head record will determine advancement. A three-way or larger tie would be resolved by examining results among the tied teams.

Sweden, which had already clinched a semifinal spot the previous day, committed numerous errors that South Korea capitalized on. In the first end with last-stone advantage, Kim Min-ji's precise shots positioned three stones in the house before Kim Eun-ji's final throw knocked out Sweden's second stone, stealing three points.

Riding the momentum, South Korea added another point in the second end despite having first-stone disadvantage, after Swedish skip Anna Hasselborg failed her final draw.

Trailing 4-0, Sweden faltered. In the third end, Hasselborg attempted a double takeout on two Korean stones near the button with her seventh stone but missed the target. South Korea seized the opportunity, scoring two more points to extend the lead to 6-0.

The Korean team effectively sealed the match in the fourth end with another two-point score, stretching the margin to 8-0.

South Korea conceded one point in the fifth end, then strategically gave up another point in the sixth end to make it 8-2. In the seventh end, the team calmly countered Sweden's center guard strategy, pushing out guard stones while limiting the damage to one point.

Sweden, recognizing the insurmountable deficit, conceded the match with a handshake.