Team South Korea rebounds to win bronze medal at BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship

Team South Korea didn’t let the disappointment of losing a heartbreaking semifinal the night before deter them from their commitment to winning a medal at the 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship in Sydney, N.S.

The Koreans, skipped by Eunji Gim, were methodical, as usual, in defeating skip Stefania Constantini’s Team Italy 6-3 in the bronze-medal game Sunday at Centre 200.

Gim was supported by vice-skip Minji Kim, second Suji Kim, lead Yeeun Seol, alternate Yeji Seol, and coached by Dongho Shin and Canadian Guy Hemmings.

It was Gim’s fifth world championship and first medal.

“Very happy, excited, have everything in the world right now,” she said.

Gim admitted getting up for the bronze-medal game was not difficult.

“We just tried to shake off yesterday’s loss,” she said. “We only looked at the bronze-medal match.”

South Korea was looking for a first-ever gold medal for their country at the world women’s championship this week but was denied Saturday evening after absorbing a 9-7 loss to Team Canada, skipped by Rachel Homan, in the semifinals.

The best previous performances at the world championship by South Korean teams were a silver in 2022 and a bronze in 2019, the latter of which included vice-skip Minji Kim as skip.

Team Italy was looking to capture its first world women’s medal.

The gold-medal final will be held tonight at 5 p.m. (Atlantic time) between the Canadians and four-time defending champion Team Switzerland, skipped by Silvana Tirinzoni. It will pit the top two ranked teams in the world against each other.

South Korea, which had finished fourth in the round-robin, took its first lead of the tightly played game in the sixth end with a deuce to go up 3-2. They went into the 10th end tied 3-3 with the hammer and used it when Gim played a pressure-packed double to score three and nail down the win.

Both teams shot a sparkling 88 per cent.

All-stars were announced Sunday based on cumulative shooting percentages in the round robin. They were fourth, Rachel Homan (Canada), third Sara McManus (Sweden), second Emma Miskew (Canada), and lead Carole Howald (Switzerland).

Live scoring, standings and statistics for the 2024 BKT Tires World Women’s Curling Championship are available by CLICKING HERE.

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This story will be available in French as soon as possible at www.curling.ca/2024worldwomen/nouvelles/?lang=fr