Wheelchair curlers pick up a win in third game of Paralympics

Korea's Baek Hye-jin prepares to take her shot during a round robin match against Switzerland at the National Aquatics Center in Beijing on Sunday. [XINHUA/YONHAP]

The Korean wheelchair curling team got off to a slow start at the 2022 Beijing Paralympics over the weekend, dropping two of their first three games of the round robin tournament.

Korea lost a tough first game of the wheelchair curling tournament to Latvia 8-4 on Saturday evening, struggling to come back from a big three-stone hit in the third end that left them fighting back for the rest of the game.

Korea continued to struggle on Sunday morning, losing a close-fought game 8-7 to Switzerland. That luck turned in the afternoon, however, as the Korean squad beat Norway 9-4 with a huge four-stone seventh end sealing the victory.

With three games played, Korea now sits tied for sixth place with two wins and a loss. As of press time, the team was set to take on China on Monday afternoon.

Wheelchair curling differs from the Olympic curling sport in a number of ways. Instead of brooms, wheelchair curlers use delivery sticks to slide the stones. A teammate steadies the athlete’s wheelchair while they slide the stone to help them stay still and improve accuracy. With nobody sweeping, it all comes down to the shooter. As a result, the team’s discussions before each shot are a crucial part of the sport.

While in the Olympics there are three different curling contests — women’s, men’s and mixed doubles — in wheelchair curling there is just one, mixed team. Each team is required to have at least one player from each gender.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]