Republic of Korea win gold at World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championship

The Republic of Korea won the SD Biosensor World Wheelchair Mixed Doubles Curling Championship 2024 on 16 March 2024 after beating China 8-3 in the final. Italy took bronze with an 8-4 win over Japan.

Earlier in the month, Norway topped the podium at the SD Biosensor World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2024. Norway defeated Canada 6-2, while China picked up the bronze medal after beating Sweden 6-3.

Republic of Korea take mixed doubles gold

Cho Minkyong and Jeong Taeyeong of the Republic of Korea beat China's Wang Meng and Yang Jinqiao 8-3 in front of a home crowd at the Gangneung Curling Centre. 

“I’m feeling very, very, very good! We were very desperate for this win because we were preparing for a very long time," Korea’s Cho Minkyong said.

Korea capitalised on their hammer in the first end and scored two. After a perfect hit-and-roll by Korea’s Cho Minkyong with her last, Korea stole a single in the second end. 

China scored in the third. After a perfect tap by Cho, Korea scored two in the fourth end for a 5-1 lead at halftime. In the fifth, Korea forced China to draw for one in their Power-Play end. Wang Meng executed the task at hand and China put a single on the board.

In the sixth, Cho made an excellent tap for three and an 8-2 lead. In the seventh, China scored one after an amazing run-back by Wang. China 3, Korea 8 after seven.

Talking about the game, Jeong said, “China is very strong in take-outs, so we had to calculate the angle of the stones to block them, so they can’t just remove our stones.”

“We didn’t win any medals for a long time and our organisation was very supportive and they were hoping for a medal. So we really had to get it for them as well,” he added.

In the bronze medal game, Italy's Orietta Berto and Paolo Ioriatti broke a 4-4 tie in the seventh end before sealing an 8-4 victory over Japan.

“I can’t speak, I have no words. It’s incredible. It’s the first wheelchair curling medal for Italy," Berto said. 

Her teammate, Ioriatti added, “It was the second time we played for bronze medals, two years ago we lost that game, and we wanted a medal now. The colour of the medal wasn’t important for us, we wanted a medal this year.”

“I want to congratulate all the staff, the World Curling Federation, everything was perfect,” he added.

Norway crowned world champions

Norway won the SD Biosensor World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2024 on 9 March after beating Canada 6-2 in the gold medal game. 

“We played a very good game, we were in full control all the time! Thinking about every stone we delivered and we made the shots and the aim was to make difficult shots," Norway's Ole Fredrik Syversen said.

Talking about the entire championship, skip Jostein Stordahl added, “We started very well, then we had some difficulties, losing three games in a row, then we found ourselves again and we started to climb and the last five-six games, it was outstanding.”

After the final, Canada’s Mark Ideson said, “Our goal is always to make the play-offs and make the final game, so we did that. It wasn’t our day today, Norway had a great game. That’s just the way things go. We fought hard and we’re happy to be bringing home a medal for Canada.

“Every time you can get on the podium it’s special. We’re proud to have the silver but it just leaves us more hungry for gold next year,” he added.