Women's Curling 5G, No Concessions on Olympic Tickets

No concessions on Olympic tickets... Women's Curling 5G "We will definitely win the national team selection"

In order to participate in the 2025 World Championships and 2026 Olympics, you must pass the selection process every year.

Kim Eun-ji said, “If only domestic competitions were held at ice rinks… that way, experience would increase.”

The method of selecting the national curling team is somewhat unique.

Rather than selecting individual players to form the national team, the Taegeuk mark is given to all teams that win the national team selection competition.

This is because teamwork is important due to the nature of the sport. 파워볼

Because of this, ironic situations can sometimes arise.

For example, even if Team A wears the Taegeuk symbol and secures a right to participate in the Winter Olympics by achieving good results at the World Championships, if it does not win the national team selection event that season, another team will be forced to participate in the Winter Olympics.

This is why we cannot feel completely at ease even though the current women's curling team '5G' (Gyeonggi Provincial Office) won a bronze medal at the 2024 World Championships last month, increasing Korea's chances of participating in the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics.

To participate in the 2025 World Championships, the last competition where Olympic points are at stake, you must pass the 2024-2025 season national team selection, and to participate in the 2026 Milan/Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, you must win the 2025-2026 season national team selection.

In the national team selection competition, 'Team Kim' (Gangneung City Hall), who finished runner-up at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and the 2022 World Championships, is considered the biggest rival.

There is also ‘Tim Ha’ (Chuncheon City Hall), who served as a member of the national team the previous season.

5G skip (captain) Kim Eun-ji met at the Uijeongbu Curling Stadium in Gyeonggi-do on the 17th and strengthened her resolve for the national team selection.

Kim Eun-ji said, “I will definitely win the qualifying round and go to the world championships to be held at my home ground in March next year.”

The ultimate goal is, of course, the Olympic stage.

Kim Eun-ji expressed her expectations, saying, “I have never thought that we could play the world championships on our home ground,” and added, “If we do what we have done so far, we will be able to represent the national team again.”

The 2025 Women's Curling World Championship will be held in Uijeongbu from March 15 to 23 next year.

This is the second event to be held in Korea following the 2009 Gangneung Games.

This is a stage that 5G cannot miss, as all members are graduates of Songhyeon High School in Uijeongbu.

The Uijeongbu Curling Center is where I mainly train when I am in Korea.

Kim Eun-ji smiled and said, “Rather, it seems like people around us have high expectations.”

Confidence is enough.

5G reached the top of the 'National' in November last year, becoming the first Korean team to win a Grand Slam tournament and a major tournament.

The bronze medal at the 2024 World Championships is the third medal in Korean women’s curling history.

Kim Eun-ji said, "I am so happy that I achieved my goals of this season: winning the Pan-Continental Championships, receiving a World Championship medal, and winning a Grand Slam."

She added, "I think we were able to achieve good results because our team's individual skills are up to par and our teamwork is very good" did.

This is thanks to Kim Min-ji, who is currently in charge of the third, strengthening her teamwork well since transferring from Chuncheon City Hall in 2022.

Kim Eun-ji said, "When Minji first came in, she had lost nine straight games in three Grand Slam tournaments in a year and was eliminated in the preliminaries in all of them," she said.

Meanwhile, Kim Eun-ji expressed her thoughts when asked what she hopes for Korean curling.

Kim Eun-ji explained, "International competitions are held at ice rinks rather than curling-specific stadiums.

Everyone can quickly adapt to curling rinks because the ice is pretty, but ice conditions at ice rinks are always different, so players need to be aware of them."

He said, “It is unfortunate that domestic players do not have much experience (in ice rinks),” and added, “If domestic competitions were held in ice rinks instead of curling rinks, I think the experience level of domestic players would increase a lot and their performance on the international stage would also improve.”