OLYMPICS: South Korean curlers pip Australia to mixed doubles spot at Milano Cortina Games

South Korean curlers Jeong Yeong-seok and Kim Seon-yeong clinched a berth in the mixed doubles competition at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics after defeating Australia’s Tahli Gill and Dean Hewitt, 10-5, in the final Olympic qualifier on Thursday.

Kim and Jeong built a 6-3 advantage by the fifth end and maintained control for the rest of the match at the Kelowna Curling Club in British Columbia, Canada.

The South Koreans, who earlier beat China 7-3 in the first playoff round, sealed the victory by placing three stones in the final end that the Australians were unable to remove. The steal of three points secured the last available Olympic quota spot.

“We just wanted to play our best whether we won or lost,” Jeong said. “We did play our best, and now we get to go to the Olympics. We’ll try our best there too.”

Gill and Hewitt made history as Australia’s first Olympic curlers when they competed at the 2022 Beijing Games and were considered among the country’s top medal contenders for Milano Cortina.

Although they finished last in Beijing, the pair have shown major improvement since then. They captured a bronze medal at this year’s World Championships and briefly rose to No. 1 in the mixed doubles world rankings last month.

Earlier on Thursday, the Australians missed another opportunity to qualify after losing a tightly contested match to Czech Republic’s Julie Zelingrova and Vit Chabicovsky.

With the game tied at 5-5, Zelingrova scored one point in the final end to secure a dramatic 6-5 victory.

“We’re very proud, but it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Chabicovsky said. “Maybe it will after a couple of hours.”

“I think when there’s a lot on the line, that’s when we perform our best. The more pressure there is, the better we play,” he added.

The mixed doubles curling tournament at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo from February 4 to 10.

The final qualifying spots for the men’s and women’s Olympic curling tournaments were determined last week. -Reporting by Aadi Nair in Nashik, India; Editing by Peter Rutherford/Reuters