Women's curling "Korea-Japan War" Korea-Japan match... 日 "We need to beat sluggish 韓꺾고 and continue our hope for the Korea final." [Milan Olympics]

*This content was translated by AI.

The "Korea-Japan match of Destiny" will be held in the women's team event at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina D'Ampezzo (Italy).

The Korean women's curling team (Kim Eun-ji, Kim Min-ji, Kim Soo-ji, Seol Ye-eun, Seol Ye-ji) will play the 5th round robin match against Japan at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, at 10:05 p.m. on the 15th (Korea time).

Women's curling, in which 10 teams participated, can reach the tournament up to the top four in the round robin rankings after playing a total of nine games once each other. South Korea defeated Italy and England after losing to the U.S. earlier, but lost to Denmark and remained in sixth place with two wins and two losses.

Japan also won the only victory over Switzerland, but lost to Sweden, Denmark and the United States, falling to ninth place with one win and three losses. The Korea-Japan match, which will be held at the halfway point of Round Robin, is a showdown of fate that will determine whether both teams can continue their hopes of advancing to the semifinals.

Earlier in Japan, a team led by Sayaka Yoshimura (Skip) is participating in the competition, not the team that competed in the 2018 Pyeongchang Games (bronze medal) and the 2022 Beijing Games (silver medal).

The South Korean and Japanese teams at the Olympics clashed in the preliminary round of the World Championships held in Uijeongbu in March last year, when South Korea won 10-8 after a close game of overtime.

As Japan, which is trying to win a medal for the third consecutive Olympics, is on the verge of elimination, attention is also focused in Japan as the "Korea-Japan match" unfolds.

Ahead of the curling Korea-Japan match, Japanese media Sports Hochi said, "Japan, which is 1 win and 3 losses, is in a difficult situation to advance to the semifinals given to the top 4 teams," adding, "Korea is a current member of the team that has consistently ranked at the top, including the bronze medal at the 2024 World Championship and the fourth place in the same tournament last year."

"Like Japan, which is struggling in this tournament, Korea is sluggish with two wins and two losses. His condition is not improving, losing to Denmark (8th) and the United States (10th), which are lower in the world rankings, he said. "Japan is inferior to Japan with 1 win and 3 losses in the history of the Olympics, but we need to defeat our Asian rivals and continue our hopes of reaching the semifinals."

Another media outlet, Nippon TV News, said, "Japan, which has remained at 1 win and 3 losses, is in desperate situation with no place to retreat for the semifinals where only the top 4 teams are given," and stressed, "We have to play against Korea that we can't lose to break through the preliminary round."

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*This content was translated by AI.