Korea beat defending champions Japan by 11-6 in Saturday morning’s women’s gold medal final.
The teams swapped scores of two in the first three ends. In the fourth end, with Korea leading 4-2, Korean skip Gim Eunji last stone wrecked on a guard, leaving Japan’s Fujisawa Satsuki with an open draw for three points and a 5-4 lead.
Korea restored their lead in the fifth end when Gim made a hit for two and a 6-5 advantage going into the fifth-end break.
In the sixth end, Japan’s Fujisawa missed her hit for a possible two, and had to settle for a single, to tie the game, at 6-6.
The doors opened for Korea in the seventh end, when Korea had an open draw to score three and take a 9-6 lead. In the eighth end, there were four Korean stones in counting positions as Fujisawa came to play her last. Her draw was slightly heavy, meaning that Japan gave up a steal of one to increase Korea’s lead to 10-6.
Fujisawa faced three Korean stones on her final shot in the ninth end. Her hit rolled too far, giving another steal to give Korea for an extended 11-6 lead. Japan conceded, crowning Korea as champions.
Let the celebrations begin for Korea who are your Pan Continental Curling Champions 2023. 🇰🇷🥇
Watch live on the Curling Channel: https://t.co/GPY4dr5un6#PCCC #curling pic.twitter.com/hwSwC1N8ma
— World Curling (@worldcurling) November 4, 2023
“We were nervous in the beginning,” said Gim. “But we kept ourselves up and we were able to get the gold, so we’re really happy about that. For the first half we were struggling a bit, but my team-mates and the coach kept me going. I was able to deal with that and go on to win.”
Meanwhile, Fujisawa said, “We had some good chances, but they’ve been a really good team this week. We’ve not been playing good curling this season so far, that’s why I’m really pleased that we made it to the final. But I really wanted to win.”
Women’s medallists:
Gold (Korea): Gim Eunji (skip), Kim Minji (third), Kim Suji (second), Seol Yeeun (lead), supported by alternate Seol Yeji and coach Shin Dongho
Silver (Japan): Fujisawa Satsuki (skip), Yoshida Chinami (third), Suzuki Yumi (second), Yoshida Yurika (lead) , supported by alternate Ishizaka Kotomi and coach JD Lind
Bronze (United States): Tabitha Peterson (skip), Cory Thiesse (third), Tara Peterson (second), Becca Hamilton (lead), supported by alternate Vicky Persinger and coach Cathy Overton-Clapham
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