The South Korean women's curling team achieved a significant victory against Japan with a score of 7-5 during the fifth round of the qualifiers for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, held at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium in Italy. Comprising skip Kim Eun-ji, third Kim Min-ji, second Kim Su-ji, lead Seol Ye-eun, and fifth Seol Ye-ji, the team elevated their standings to a shared fourth place with Denmark, now at 3 wins and 2 losses, while Japan fell to ninth place with only 1 win out of 5 matches.

In the match, South Korea started with a strong strategy, scoring points in the second and third ends to lead 2-0. However, the game became tightly contested when Japan equalized in the fourth end by gaining 2 points. The South Korean team continued to trade points evenly with Japan until the eighth end, a critical moment where they managed a blank end to retain the last stone advantage without scoring, thus setting themselves up for a strong finish.

In the pivotal eighth end, third Kim Min-ji executed a double takeout that eliminated two of Japan’s stones, enabling skip Kim Eun-ji to score 3 points in the next delivery, pushing the score to 6-3 in favor of South Korea. Though they conceded 2 points in the ninth end, they secured a thrilling victory by adding 1 point in the final 10th end. The team’s next match is scheduled against China on the morning of the 17th.