South Korea claimed silver in the mixed doubles curling event at the Asian Winter Games on Saturday after narrowly losing to Japan in the tense final.
Kim Kyeong-ae and Seong Ji-hoon fell to Tori Koana and Go Aoki 7-6 at Harbin Pingfang District Curling Arena in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin.
The teams traded two points each in the first two ends. With Japan holding the hammer, South Korea stole two points to begin the final after Go Aoki failed to execute a takeout with the last Japanese stone. But in the second end, Kim couldn't quite push a Japanese stone out of the house, opening the door for Aoki to put a second Japanese rock in the scoring area with his last shot and grab two points.
Back and forth they went. South Korea grabbed a point in the third end thanks to Kim's draw with the last stone, only to see Japan move ahead 4-3 with two points in the fourth end.
Japan opened up a 5-3 lead after the fifth end, with South Korea struggling with its shots.
South Korea could only manage a point in the sixth end, but then stole two points in the seventh end thanks to Kim's deft shotmaking.
Japan, though, clinched the victory with two points in the eighth and final end, after Kim failed to take out a couple of Japanese rocks with her last shot.
Koana and Aoki are No. 5 in the mixed doubles world rankings, while Kim and Seong are No. 59.
The mixed doubles event made its Asian Games debut here. South Korea will look to add medals in the women's and men's events later in the seven-day Asiad. (Yonhap)
