South Korea's wheelchair curling team brightened its prospects for reaching the semifinals after securing consecutive victories in the fourth and fifth preliminary matches of the mixed team event at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics.
The national team, ranked fifth in the world and composed of Nam Bong-kwang (45, Gyeonggi Province Sports Association for the Disabled), Bang Min-ja (64, South Jeolla Province Sports Association for the Disabled), Yang Hee-tae (58, Gangwon State Sports Association for the Disabled), Lee Hyun-chul (40, Gangwon State Sports Association for the Disabled), and Cha Jin-ho (54, Gyeonggi Province Sports Association for the Disabled), defeated Slovakia (ranked 7th) 7-5 in the fifth preliminary match held at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Italy on the 9th (local time).
With this result, South Korea improved its record to 3 wins and 2 losses, adding two victories on the day following a 7-6 win over Great Britain in the fourth preliminary match. Against Slovakia, South Korea conceded the first point in the opening end but rallied with 2 points in the second end, then continued scoring in every subsequent end to secure the victory.
After the match, Bang Min-ja said, "We were able to win because our teammates maintained their concentration until the very end," adding, "In the remaining matches, we need to focus a bit more than today to achieve good results."
Lee Hyun-chul said, "Before today's match, we told each other, 'We've only lost twice. We just need to start fresh,'" adding, "Thanks to this fighting spirit, we could cover each other's weaknesses and truly play as a team."
Ten teams are competing in the wheelchair curling mixed team event at this tournament. After completing nine preliminary matches in a round-robin format, the top four teams will advance to the semifinals to compete for medals. Teams need to secure at least 5 wins to guarantee a semifinal berth without relying on tiebreaker scenarios. South Korea will face Norway in the sixth preliminary match on the 10th.