 Kim Kyeong-ae and Seong Ji-hoon (Photo: Curling1spoon) are the 2024 Korean Mixed Doubles Curling champions after a dominant run in Jincheon. By: Cameron Sallaj At the Korean Mixed Doubles national championship, held July 20 to 28 at the Jincheon National Training Centre, twenty-one teams were looking to win their way onto the Korean National Team for the 2024-25 season, joining men's and women's champions Lee Jae-beom and Gim Eun-ji. Through eight days of competition, the field was whittled down to just two teams who competed in the best-of-three final. Kim Kyeong-ae and Seong Ji-hoon, who both hail from Gangwon, teamed up for a second year after failing to reach the national championship in 2023. Kim plays third on the 2018 Olympic silver medalist Kim Eun-jung rink and Seong is the alternate on Park Jong-duk's Gangwon Office rink. After a 6-2 record in the Gangwon qualifier, the pair advanced to the national championship where they began their strong run, finishing top of their round robin pool with a 5-1 record. In the quarterfinals, Kim and Seong went up against the two-time defending champions Kim Ji-yoon and Jeong Byeong-jin. After falling behind 3-1 in the first half, the pair battled back to win 6-4 and advance to the semifinals. There, they bested Seong's skip Park Jong-duk and his wife Ahn Jin-hee 2-1 in the best-of-three series to qualify for the championship series where they would take on two of their respective teammates, Kim Cho-hi and Lee Ki-bok. Kim and Lee, playing second and lead on their respective teams, were one of the favorites entering the national championship, posting an 8-0 record to win the Gangwon qualifier. They also got off to a quick start in the round robin with five straight wins before losing their final preliminary game. In the quarterfinals, they beat Yang Tae-i and Kim Soo-hyuk before eliminating the 2023 runners-up Kim Hye-rin and Yoo Min-hyeon 2-0 in their best-of-three semifinal. No matter the outcome of the final series, a team from Gangwon was going to win the title for the first time since 2021. In the first game, Kim and Lee started well with two points in the first end. However, Kim and Seong turned the tables in the fourth end by scoring three and stealing two in the fifth end to open a 6-3 lead. Despite Cho-hi and Ki-bok battling back with singles in six and seven, Kyeong-ae and Ji-hoon secured the 7-5 victory with one in the eighth end. Only needing to win one more game for the national title, Kim and Seong had a perfect start to the second game, stealing back-to-back deuces to go ahead 4-0. From there, the pair dominated the rest of the game, going on to a 7-3 win and a spot on the Korean National Mixed Doubles Team. For Seong, this is his third mixed doubles national title while Kim earns her first. Despite her limited mixed doubles experience, Kim has had many career accomplishments while playing third for Kim Eun-jung including silver medals at the 2018 Winter Olympics, the 2022 World Women's Championship and the 2017 Asian Winter Games. With the win, the pair will represent Korea at all international mixed doubles competitions throughout the 2024-25 season. This includes the 2025 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Fredericton, New Brunswick and the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China. If the pair places well at the World Championship, they may qualify Korea directly for the mixed doubles discipline at the 2026 Winter Olympics. |
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Matt Dunstone (Photo: Curling Canada) and his Winnipeg-based squad begin play at the CO-OP Tour Challenge in Nisku, Alta.
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