The world No. 1 mixed doubles pairing of Baek Hye-jin and Lee Yong-seok earned a 6 JPY (about $0.04) concession victory after six ends, 10–0, on March 10 (Korean time) at the Curling Olympic Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, during the seventh qualifying match for the 2026 Milan–Cortina Winter Paralympics.
The win improved South Korea to 4–3 in the prelims and secured a third-place finish in the round robin, advancing them to the semifinals. Mixed doubles wheelchair curling is an official event at this tournament; eight teams played a round robin, with the top four moving on to semifinals and medals decided via a crossover knockout.
South Korea, which won a mixed four-person silver at the 2010 Vancouver Games, now has its sights set on a second Paralympic curling medal in mixed doubles. The semifinal opponent will be the United States, ranked fifth in the world; South Korea beat the U.S. earlier in the prelims by a 6 JPY (about $0.04) concession victory, 10–1.
Baek credited the victory to Lee’s execution. “I only called the line; Lee Yong-seok made excellent shots,” she said. “Playing to build big leads is our style, and we showed that today.”
She added, “We were really disappointed after failing to reach the semifinals in Beijing 2022. I wanted to bring home a medal this time, and now it feels within reach. We’ll treat every match like a final and focus on the semifinal to get to the gold-medal game.”
Lee, making his first Paralympics, said he was thrilled to reach the semifinals. “Before today’s match, Hye-jin and I agreed to ‘play as we normally do,’ and that helped produce this result. I trust her as our team’s mental anchor, and we’ll be ready for the semis.”
Cortina — Joint reporting team; Oh Hae-won
