Kim Cho-hi (born September 7, 1996), nicknamed Chocho,[1] is a South Korean curler from Uijeongbu.[2] She was the alternate, but now plays second for Team Kim Eun-jung. The Kim team represented South Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics, where they won a silver medal.[3]

Kim Cho-hi
Born (1996-09-07) September 7, 1996 (age 28)
Uijeongbu, South Korea
Team
Curling clubGangneung CC,
Gangneung, KOR
SkipKim Eun-jung
ThirdKim Kyeong-ae
SecondKim Cho-hi
LeadKim Seon-yeong
AlternateKim Yeong-mi
Mixed doubles
partner
Lee Ki-bok
Curling career
Member Association South Korea
World Championship
appearances
4 (2017, 2018, 2021, 2022)
Pacific-Asia Championship
appearances
2 (2016, 2021)
Olympic
appearances
2 (2018, 2022)
Medal record
Women's Curling
Representing  South Korea
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2018 Pyeongchang Team
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2022 Prince George
Pacific-Asia Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Uiseong
Silver medal – second place 2021 Almaty
Representing Uiseong
Korean Women's Championship
Gold medal – first place 2016 Uiseong
Gold medal – first place 2020 Gangneung
Silver medal – second place 2018 Jincheon
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Gangneung
Representing Gyeongbuk
Korean Mixed Doubles Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Icheon
Representing Gangneung
Korean Women's Championship
Gold medal – first place 2021 Gangneung
Silver medal – second place 2023 Gangneung
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Uijeongbu
Representing Gangwon
Korean Mixed Doubles Championship
Silver medal – second place 2024 Jincheon
Kim Cho-hi
Hangul
김초희
Revised RomanizationGim Chohui
McCune–ReischauerKim Ch'ohŭi

Career

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Team Kim won the 2017 South Korean championship, qualifying the team to represent South Korea on home ice at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The team began the 2017-18 curling season by winning the 2017 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships. As the host nation, the team received celebrity status in Korea as the "garlic girls", as their hometown of Uiseong is known for its garlic production. The team had an impressive run, making it to the gold medal final, where they lost to Sweden's Anna Hasselborg rink.[4] The next month, the team then played in the 2018 Ford World Women's Curling Championship where they lost in the quarterfinals.[5]

The garlic girls did not play much in the 2018–19 season amidst a coaching scandal, which involved the country's sport federation vice president verbally abusing the team.[6] She did play lead for the team in the final event of the season, the 2019 WCT Arctic Cup, because her skip Kim Eun-jung was preparing to give birth, so the whole line-up shifted up a position. The team finished with an 1–3 record, missing the playoffs.

Eun-jung did not play in the team's first few events of the 2019–20 season. This meant that Kim Kyeong-ae would play skip, Cho-hi would play third, and Kim Seon-yeong and Kim Yeong-mi played their normal second and lead positions respectively. They qualified for the playoffs at the 2019 Cameron's Brewing Oakville Fall Classic, the 2019 Stu Sells Oakville Tankard and finished runner-up at the inaugural WCT Uiseong International Curling Cup. Kim Eun-jung rejoined the team at the 2019 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic, where she would throw second stones. They had a quarterfinal finish. Team Kim also had a quarterfinal finish the following week at the 2019 Canad Inns Women's Classic, where Kim Eun-jung returned to throwing skip stones. They made it to the final of the 2019 Changan Ford International Curling Elite and finished fourth at the 2019 China Open in December 2019. In the new year, they had a quarterfinal finish at the International Bernese Ladies Cup, and they won the Glynhill Ladies International. It would be the team's last event of the season as both the Players' Championship and the Champions Cup Grand Slam events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]

The Kim rink began the abbreviated 2020–21 season by winning their national championship at the 2020 Korean Curling Championships.[8] After finishing 6–0 through the round robin, her team defeated Kim Min-ji 6–5 in the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game and won 7–5 over Gim Un-chi in the championship final. Their win qualified them to represent Korea at the 2021 World Women's Curling Championship. The team had a slow start, losing their first four games before going 7–2 in their final nine games. Their 7–6 record placed them seventh after the round robin, not enough to qualify for the playoffs and the 2022 Winter Olympics.[9] The team also changed home clubs during the season, switching from the Uiseong Curling Club to the Gangneung Curling Centre after their contract expired with the Gyeongsangbukdo Sports Council.[10]

Team Kim began the 2021–22 season at the 2021 Korean Curling Championships in June, which also doubled as the selection event for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.[11] Through the event, the team posted a strong 11–1 record, once again securing the national title.[12] The team also won their next event, the 2021 Alberta Curling Series: Saville Shoot-Out in September, after an undefeated record.[13] Elsewhere on tour, the team reached the semifinals of both the 2021 Sherwood Park Women's Curling Classic and the 2021 Masters Grand Slam event.[14] In international play, Team Kim represented South Korea at the 2021 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships. The team finished the round robin with a 5–1 record, tied with Japan. Japan had a better draw shot challenge record, forcing Korea into a semifinal match against Kazakhstan. Team Kim beat Kazakhstan but lost to Japan in the gold medal game, settling for silver.[15] Because they had failed to qualify for the Olympics at the 2021 World Championship, the team then had to play in the Olympic Qualification Event to qualify South Korea for the 2022 Winter Olympics. The team posted a 6–2 record through the round robin, putting them into the playoffs. There, they lost to Japan in their first game but rebounded to beat Latvia in their second, qualifying Korea for the Winter Games.[16] At the Olympics, the team could not replicate their success from PyeongChang 2018 and finished the event in eighth with a 4–5 record. The team had much more success at the 2022 World Women's Curling Championship. They finished the round robin with a 9–3 record, in second place.[17] This gave them a bye to the semifinals, where they beat the host Canadian team skipped by Kerri Einarson.[18] This put them into the gold medal game where they played Switzerland, skipped by Silvana Tirinzoni. The team was not as successful against the Swiss, losing to them 7–6, settling for the silver medal, Korea's best-ever finish at the Worlds.[19] A few weeks later, the team wrapped up their season at the 2022 Champions Cup, where they lost in a tiebreaker to Einarson.

In June 2022, at the 2022 Korean Curling Championships, Team Kim lost their spot as the national team. After a 5–1 record, the team lost both the semifinal and bronze medal game to Chuncheon City Hall and Jeonbuk Province respectively.[20] It was their first time not reaching the podium in over a decade. Team Kim began their tour season at the 2022 Stu Sells Toronto Tankard where they lost in the semifinals to Team Tirinzoni.[21] The next week, they played in the first Slam of the season, the 2022 National, where they went 1–3.[22] After failing to qualify again at the 2022 Western Showdown, the team found success at the 2022 Tour Challenge as they qualified for the playoffs as the second seeds. They then lost to Gim Eun-ji in the quarterfinals.[23] They also lost to Team Gim in the quarterfinals of their next event, the Stu Sells Brantford Nissan Classic after previously being undefeated.[24] At the 2022 Masters, the team again missed the playoffs with a 1–3 record.[25] They ended their season early at the 2022 Karuizawa International Curling Championships where they qualified for the playoffs with a 2–1 record. After beating Sayaka Yoshimura 7–5 in the semifinal, they won 5–4 over Kerri Einarson to secure the event title.[26]

The following season, Team Kim finished second to Team Gim at the 2023 Korean Curling Championships, again not qualifying as the national team.[27] Despite this, the team had one of their best tour seasons to date. After two quarterfinal and one semifinal finish, they won the 2023 Stu Sells Tankard, defeating Sayaka Yoshimura 6–5 in the final.[28] They followed this up with a semifinal finish at the 2023 Players Open which included a quarterfinal win against world champions Silvana Tirinzoni. In October, the team won six straight games to claim the 2023 Tour Challenge Tier 2 title.[29] They won their third event the following month in Uiseong, defeating Team Gim in the final of the Uiseong Korean Cup. After losing the final of the 2023 Karuizawa International to Ikue Kitazawa, Team Kim bounced back immediately with an undefeated run at the 2023 Western Showdown.[30] After a 4–0 round robin record, they beat Gim, Isabella Wranå and Jolene Campbell in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final respectively. They then played their first Tier 1 Slam event of the year, the 2023 Masters, where they lost in a tiebreaker to Tabitha Peterson.[31] In the new year, they did qualify at the 2024 Canadian Open before a loss to Tirinzoni in the quarterfinals.[32] At the 2024 International Bernese Ladies Cup, the team made it to another final before losing to rivals Team Gim.[33] They finished their season at the 2024 Players' Championship with another quarterfinal loss to Tirinzoni.[34] After beginning the season in twenty-seventh place, Team Kim ranked seventh at the end of the 2023–24 season.[35]

Mixed doubles

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Kim qualified for the 2022 Korean Mixed Doubles Curling Championship where she competed with Oh Seung-hoon.[36] The pair qualified for the playoffs with a 3–0 record, but lost in both the semifinal and bronze medal game, settling for fourth.

Grand Slam record

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Key
C Champion
F Lost in Final
SF Lost in Semifinal
QF Lost in Quarterfinals
R16 Lost in the round of 16
Q Did not advance to playoffs
T2 Played in Tier 2 event
DNP Did not participate in event
N/A Not a Grand Slam event that season
Event 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Tour Challenge DNP T2 DNP DNP N/A N/A QF T2 QF
Canadian Open DNP SF DNP DNP N/A N/A DNP QF SF
The National Q DNP DNP DNP N/A DNP Q DNP
Masters QF DNP DNP DNP N/A SF Q Q
Players' DNP Q DNP N/A DNP DNP DNP QF
Champions Cup DNP DNP DNP N/A DNP Q DNP N/A N/A

References

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  1. ^ "선수 개요 - KIM Chohi". Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games (in Korean). Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  2. ^ "2021 World Women's Curling Championship Media Guide" (PDF). Curling Canada. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  3. ^ "KIM Chohi". Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Archived from the original on February 3, 2018. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  4. ^ "South Korea's curling silver brings Olympic spirit to life | News | CBC Olympics | PyeongChang 2018". February 25, 2018. Archived from the original on February 25, 2018. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  5. ^ "Canada-U.S. rematch set for semifinal at Ford World Women's Championship". Curling Canada. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  6. ^ "South Korean curling official leaves sport over alleged abuse of 'Garlic Girls'". CBC Sports.
  7. ^ "GSOC cancels remaining events of 2019–20 season". Grand Slam of Curling. Grand Slam of Curling. March 13, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  8. ^ "2020 Korean National Women's Curling Championship". CurlingZone. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  9. ^ Jackie Spiegel (May 9, 2021). "World Women's Curling Championship 2021: Results, standings, schedule and TV channel". Sporting News. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  10. ^ "Team Kim curlers find new beginning with Gangneung". Korea JoongAng Daily. March 4, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  11. ^ "베이징 올림픽 대표를 포함한 2021-2022 컬링 국가대표를 뽑는 2021 KB금융 한국컬링선수권대회 with 강릉" [The 2021 KB Financial Group Korea Curling Championships with Gangneung will select the 2021-2022 national curling team, including the Beijing Olympic team.]. Instagram (in Korean). curling1spoon. June 19, 2021. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  12. ^ "여자부 강릉시청 '팀 킴'은 2차전 5승 1패로 우승해 오는 12월 열리는 베이징 올림픽 자격대회에 출전하게 됐습니다. 축하합니다" [Gangneung City Hall Women's Team Kim won the second round with 5 wins and 1 loss and will be participating in the Beijing Olympic Qualification Tournament in December. Congratulations.]. Instagram (in Korean). curling1spoon. July 2, 2021. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  13. ^ "Alberta Curling Series: Saville Shoot-Out". CurlingZone. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  14. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (October 23, 2021). "Jacobs to meet Mouat in Masters men's final". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  15. ^ "Japan women and Korea men win Pacific-Asia Curling Championships". World Curling Federation. November 13, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  16. ^ "Korea women qualify for Beijing". World Curling Federation. December 18, 2021. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  17. ^ "Play-off match-ups set at the World Women's". World Curling Federation. March 26, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  18. ^ "Crushing defeat". Curling Canada. March 27, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  19. ^ "Switzerland defend their World Women's title in Prince George". World Curling Federation. March 28, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  20. ^ "New Champions in Korea". Sports Illustrated. The Curling News. June 20, 2022. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  21. ^ "Wins from Tirinzoni and Edin highlight busy weekend in curling". TSN. October 3, 2022. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  22. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (October 7, 2022). "Fujisawa fends off Einarson to stay undefeated in Boost National". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  23. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (October 22, 2022). "Wrana upsets top-seed Tirinzoni in HearingLife Tour Challenge quarterfinals". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  24. ^ "Gim wins again at Stu Sells Brantford Nissan Classic". CurlingZone. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  25. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (December 9, 2022). "Team Jones edge Team Lawes to slide into WFG Masters playoffs". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  26. ^ "Kim defeats Einarson in Karuizawa International final". TSN. December 20, 2022. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  27. ^ "2023 Korean Curling Championships – Women". CurlingZone. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  28. ^ "Korea's EunJung Kim wins Stu Sells Tankard". CurlingZone. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  29. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (October 22, 2023). "Jones tops Lawes to claim HearingLife Tour Challenge women's title". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  30. ^ "Schwaller, Kim find victory at Western Showdown in Swift Current". TSN. December 11, 2023. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  31. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (December 16, 2023). "Whyte beats Edin to earn final playoff spot at WFG Masters". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  32. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (January 20, 2024). "Jones, Homan face again in semifinals at Co-op Canadian Open". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  33. ^ "2024 International Bernese Ladies Cup". CurlingZone. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  34. ^ Jonathan Brazeau (April 13, 2024). "Gim, Tirinzoni advance to Princess Auto Players' Championship semifinals". Grand Slam of Curling. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  35. ^ "2023–24 World Curling Team Ranking: Women". CurlingZone. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  36. ^ "2022 한국컬링선수권대회 : 믹스더블 강원도 지역대표 선발전" [2022 Korea Curling Championships: Mixed Doubles Gangwon-do Regional Representative Selection]. Instagram (in Korean). curling1spoon. June 23, 2022. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
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