15 December 2025
Korea top Group A on day two at Olympic Qualification Event
The standings started to take shape on Sunday in the mixed doubles competition at the Olympic Qualification Event 2025.
Unfortunately, due to illness within the team, Austria had to forfeit both of their games on this day.
Group A
Korea sit as unbeaten Group A leaders after three sessions of mixed doubles action.
In Sunday’s play, Korea were scheduled to face Austria in the morning session, but illness in the Austrian team meant they had to forfeit the game, handing Korea an automatic win.
In the evening, Korea faced Germany and won 8-2. A score of three in the fourth end thanks to a gentle tap-up was followed by a steal of two in the fifth. A further single steal in the sixth completed their win.
After this game, Korea’s Kim Seon-Yeong said, “Obviously the Olympic Games are on the line so there is pressure, but we trust ourselves, we trust each other.”
In their morning game, Germany had lost to Türkiye. This was a tight game with the Turks leading by 5-4 as they played the eighth end. Türkiye’s Berfin Sengul then played a draw inside two German stones, to score one more point and win the game by 6-4.
This gave Türkiye their second win so far, but they later lost 5-8 to Czechia in their evening game. To secure this win, Czechia had steals in the third, sixth and seventh ends.
This was a bounce-back for Czechia, who had lost 3-8 to Japan in their morning game.
Latvia had two wins in Sunday’s play, following up a 13-6 win over Finland — in which they opened with a score of five — by beating Japan 7-6 in the evening. This score was achieved by a hit for three in the eighth end.
After her win over Finland, Latvia’s Katrina Gaidule said, “Of course, we are pleased. That was our plan — to get a win today. And you’re always happy to start with a five!”
“We adapted to the ice much quicker today. Now, we’ll keep the good things from today and be ready for the next games.”
Finland then benefitted from Austria’s illness-enforced absence and were handed a win in their scheduled evening game.
Group B
The Group B teams only had one session on Sunday which saw Australia, China and Netherlands earn their second win, pushing them to the top of the standings.
Australia faced Hungary and opened the scoring with three points in the first end. Then, in the eighth end, the Australians led by 7-6 when Tahli Gill played a hit on two Hungarian stones to score two more points and win the game by 9-6.
Following the game, Gill said, “Every game is a learning game. Teams are making good shots, and that’s exactly what I expected, so we have to make good shots too.”
Dean Hewitt added, “We’re trying to execute as best we can. Coming out with two wins is a really good start, so hopefully we can keep building on this.”
China faced France in this session. In the seventh end, China’s Ye Zixuan played a nose-hit at the back of the house to score three points for a 12-4 lead, and France conceded. After this performance, Ye said, “I think we can get better and better as we play this week.”
Netherlands faced Spain and had built a 7-0 lead after five ends. In the eighth end, Netherlands’ Lisenka Bomas hit out a Spanish stone to score one point and move to an 8-2 lead. Spain then conceded.
After the game, Bomas said, “We’ve had really good draw-weight from the start, so we’ve had control and finishing it off is great.”
The fourth game of the session saw Denmark play New Zealand. By the fifth end of this game, Denmark led by 5-3. New Zealand’s Courtney Smith then attempted to score with a draw, but was wide and heavy, and gave up a steal of two instead. This let Denmark build a 7-3 lead. They went on to win by 11-4, their first victory so far.
All Olympic Qualification Event games will be broadcast on the Curling Channel, however, there may be restrictions due to broadcast partner agreements.
Find the schedule and follow results here.
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