*This content was translated by AI.
South Korea's curling mix double Kim Sun-young (Gangneung City Hall) and Jung Young-seok (Gangwon Provincial Government), who competed in the 2026 Milan-Cortina D'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, finally won their first match in six preliminary games. Those who shed tears immediately after the previous five consecutive losses could not hide their tears even after their emotional first win, which was significantly different in meaning.
Kim Sun-young and Jung Young-seok reported their first win of the qualifying round after beating the U.S. 6-5 in the sixth game of the Olympic Curling Mix-Double Round robin held at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy on the 8th (Korea time).
Kim Sun-young and Jung Young-seok, who had previously lost to Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, England and the Czech Republic, reported their first win in six games. It is true that they are still at the bottom of the preliminary round, and the possibility of advancing to the semifinals, which is given up to fourth place among the 10 teams, is slim, but they were not shaken by a shocking five-game losing streak and reported their first win, sparking the last hope.
Kim Sun-young and Jung Young-seok, who led 2-0 with a successful second-end steal following the first end as a back ball, added one point each at the fourth and sixth ends to lead 4-2. Even though the U.S. used the 7-end power play, it seemed to win the game by succeeding in a one-point steal, but it lost three points to the 8-end U.S. and allowed the tie at once. South Korea, however, confirmed its victory when Kim Sun-young placed the last stone near the center of the house after Jung Young-seok removed the three American stones that had been gathered in the center of the house in an extension to the back.
Kim Sun-young, who had been emotional since greeting the U.S. national team players shortly after his first win was confirmed, eventually shed tears after the game. In a post-match interview with broadcaster JTBC, Kim Sun-young shed tears, saying, "I think it's worth praising for overcoming it and making the last shot."
Kim Sun-young said, "It's a pity that our first win is late, but it was our first priority to show our own game. "I like it the most that we played a good game while leading it to our style," he said. "There were things I wanted to do at the end, and there are times when I don't do well, but I thought I might have driven myself too far into the corner. As the second half progressed, I had a mindset to put it down. I was able to concentrate until the end because I had a team member I trusted," he said.
Jung Young-seok said, "I feel good to win. I'm sorry it's too late. Still, today's game was the way and content we've been pursuing. I asked to catch teams with the ability to go to the playoffs, but the results came out well," he said. "I was upset and disappointed at the end of each game. He added, "If emotions continue until the next game, I think there will be a worse impact, so let's only think of the best ideas."
In fact, they shed tears immediately after losing Game 5 to the Czech Republic. However, at that time, it was tears of upset about the result of five consecutive losses.
Kim Sun-young could not hide her tears, saying, "I tried to do more with confidence because my sisters said, 'It's good to curl happily,'" after hearing the cheering voices of two seniors, Kim Eun-jung and Kim Young-mi, who served as commentators for the competition. Jung Young-seok, who was interviewed together, also shed tears, saying, "It's a pity that I can't show the things I prepared and tried to do to come here."
However, with tears of upset behind them, they broke the crisis of losing six consecutive games and smiled only after announcing the exciting first win of the qualifying round. Kim Sun-young and Jung Young-seok, who changed the atmosphere, will try to win their second consecutive preliminary match against Estonia at 6:05 p.m. on the 8th.
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*This content was translated by AI.
