Ha Seung-youn explained

Ha Seung-youn
Birth Date:19 May 2000
Curling Club:Chuncheon CC,
Chuncheon, KOR
Skip:Ha Seung-youn
Third:Kim Hye-rin
Second:Yang Tae-i
Lead:Kim Su-jin
Alternate:Park Seo-jin
Mixed Doubles Partner:Kim Hak-kyun
World Championship Appearances:1
Pan Continental Championship Appearances:1
Hangul:하승연
Rr:Ha Seung-yeon
Mr:Ha Sŭng-yŏn

Ha Seung-youn (born May 19, 2000) is a South Korean curler from Uijeongbu.[1] She is the skip of the Chuncheon City Hall curling team. While playing with Kim Min-ji, she won a silver medal at the 2020 World Junior Curling Championships.

Career

Ha joined Team Kim in 2019. The team lost the final of the 2019 Korean Curling Championships in July 2019 to the Gim Un-chi rink.[2] The team won the Tour Challenge Tier 2 event Grand Slam of Curling event after a strong 9–2 win over Jestyn Murphy.[3] This qualified them for the Canadian Open in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. There, they defeated higher ranked teams such as three time Scotties champion Rachel Homan, 2013 world champion Eve Muirhead and 2020 Scotties champion Kerri Einarson. They made it all the way to the final before losing to the Anna Hasselborg rink in an extra end.[4] They also made it all the way to the final of the 2020 World Junior Curling Championships, where they lost to Canada's Mackenzie Zacharias. On the World Curling Tour, they won the Boundary Ford Curling Classic, finished fourth at the inaugural WCT Uiseong International Curling Cup, made the quarterfinals at the Red Deer Curling Classic and missed the playoffs at the 2019 Curlers Corner Autumn Gold Curling Classic and the 2019 Canad Inns Women's Classic.

The Kim rink began the abbreviated 2020–21 season at the 2020 Korean Curling Championships. There, they qualified for the playoffs with a 5–1 record before losing both of their playoff games to the Kim Eun-jung and Gim Un-chi rinks, settling for third.[5] Later that season, Team Kim competed in the only two Grand Slam events of the season, which were played in a "curling bubble" in Calgary, Alberta, with no spectators, to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.[6] The team missed the playoffs at both the 2021 Champions Cup and the 2021 Players' Championship.

The 2021–22 season began in June for Team Kim as they competed in the 2021 Korean Curling Championships to decide who would get the chance to represent Korea at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.[7] In the first of three rounds, the team went a perfect 4–0 in the round robin before losing in the semifinal to the Gim Un-chi rink. They rebounded with a win over Kim Ji-su in the third place game. In the second round, they went 4–2, however, because Team Kim Eun-jung won both the first and second rounds, they became the national champions.[8] Ha later competed in the Gangwon qualifier for the 2021 Korean Mixed Doubles Curling Championship with partner Park Sang-woo, however, failed to reach the national championship after a 2–3 record. Through the fall of 2021, skip Kim Min-ji was absent from the team due to winning the Mixed Doubles championship with Lee Ki-jeong.[9] This moved the team's second Kim Hye-rin up to skip with Ha remaining at the third position. The team played in two Grand Slam events, the 2021 Masters and the 2021 National, finishing with a 1–3 record at both. They only played in one more event during the season, the Boundary Ford Curling Classic, where they lost in the final to Team Gim.[10] In March 2022, Kim Min-ji would move to Gyeonggi Province to join Team Gim, moving Ha up to skip on the Chuncheon City Hall team.

The newly revised Chuncheon City Hall rink were the dark horses entering the 2022 Korean Curling Championships behind both Gangneung City Hall's Kim Eun-jung and Gyeonggi Province's Gim Eun-ji. Despite this, they finished second in the round robin with a 5–1 record and then beat Gangneung City Hall 7–5 in the semifinal. In the championship game, they won 7–4 over Gyeonggi Province to become the national team for the 2022–23 season.[11] On tour, the team did not find early success, with their best results being a fourth place finish at the 2022 Hokkaido Bank Curling Classic and a quarterfinal appearance at the 2022 Alberta Curling Series Major. They then turned things around, however, winning the US Open of Curling and finishing second at the S3 Group Curling Stadium Series.[12] At the 2022 Pan Continental Curling Championships, the team led Korea to a 6–2 record, enough to qualify for the playoffs as the fourth seed.[13] They then beat the higher seeded United States in the semifinal to qualify for the final where they faced Japan's Satsuki Fujisawa. There, they fell 8–6 to the Japanese in an extra end, settling for silver.[14] In the new year, the team represented Korea at the 2023 Winter World University Games where they topped the round robin with an 8–1 record. After beating Great Britain in the semifinal, they lost to China in the championship game, once again taking silver.[15] Despite their success at both the Pan Continental Championship and the World University Games, the team could not continue their medal streak at the 2023 World Women's Curling Championship, finishing ninth with a 5–7 record.[16]

At the 2023 Korean Curling Championships, Team Ha could not defend their national title. After starting with six straight wins, the team lost three of their next four games, finishing in third place behind Gyeonggi Province and Gangneung City Hall.[17] Despite losing their spot as the national team, they had a strong start to their tour season, capturing the 2023 Stu Sells Oakville Tankard.[18] They also made the playoffs at the 2023 KW Fall Classic where they went undefeated until the semifinals before losing to Krista McCarville.[19] After their first two events, the team struggled to find success, only qualifying in three of their next eight events. This included a semifinal finish at the Stu Sells 1824 Halifax Classic and two quarterfinal losses at the Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic and the North Grenville Women's Fall Curling Classic, both after previously undefeated records.[20] In November 2023, they again finished third at the Uiseong Korean Cup, not being able to make it past the Gim or Kim rinks. They ended their season at the 2024 New Year Curling in Miyota event where they missed the playoffs.

Personal life

Ha attended Korea National Open University.[21]

Grand Slam record

Event2019–202020–212021–222022–232023–24
Tour ChallengeT2N/AN/ADNPQ
The NationalDNPN/AQDNPQ
MastersDNPN/AQDNPDNP
Canadian OpenFN/AN/ADNPDNP
Players'N/AQDNPDNPDNP
Champions CupN/AQDNPDNPN/A

Teams

Season Skip Third Second Lead Alternate
2019–20[22] Ha Seung-youn Yang Tae-i
2020–21Kim Min-ji Ha Seung-youn Kim Hye-rin Kim Su-jin Yang Tae-i
2021–22Kim Min-ji Kim Hye-rin Ha Seung-youn Kim Su-jin Yang Tae-i
2022–23Ha Seung-youn Kim Hye-rin Yang Tae-i Kim Su-jin
2023–24Ha Seung-youn Kim Hye-rin Yang Tae-i Kim Su-jin
2024–25Ha Seung-youn Kim Hye-rin Yang Tae-i Kim Su-jin Park Seo-jin

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ha Seungyoun. Grand Slam of Curling. November 5, 2021.
  2. live. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211209/OHdXaedk7Dk. 2021-12-09. 2019 Korean Women's Curling Finals:Kim Minji vs Gim Unchi . YouTube.
  3. Web site: 2020 Tour Challenge. Grand Slam of Curling. Jonathan Brazeau. November 10, 2019. March 14, 2020.
  4. News: 2020 Meridian Canadian Open. Grand Slam of Curling. Jonathan Brazeau. January 19, 2020. March 14, 2020.
  5. Web site: 2020 Korean National Women's Curling Championship – Playoffs. CurlingZone. June 8, 2021.
  6. News: Humpty's Champions Cup start moved to Thursday. Grand Slam of Curling. Jonathan Brazeau. April 12, 2021. June 8, 2021.
  7. News: 베이징 올림픽 대표를 포함한 2021-2022 컬링 국가대표를 뽑는 2021 KB금융 한국컬링선수권대회 with 강릉.. https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/CQSZEAUDAA8. 2021-12-26. registration. Korean. curling1spoon. Instagram. June 19, 2021. June 16, 2022.
  8. News: 여자부 강릉시청 '팀 킴'은 2차전 5승 1패로 우승해 오는 12월 열리는 베이징 올림픽 자격대회에 출전하게 됐습니다. 축하합니다.. https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/CQ082klMfdp . 2021-12-26 . registration. Korean. curling1spoon. Instagram. July 2, 2021. June 16, 2022.
  9. News: '19연승' 컬링 믹스더블 국가대표 된 김민지·이기정. OhmyStar. August 9, 2021. June 16, 2022.
  10. Web site: 2021 Boundary Ford Curling Classic. CurlingZone. June 16, 2022.
  11. News: New Champions in Korea. The Curling News. Sports Illustrated. June 20, 2022. July 22, 2023.
  12. Web site: 2022 CURVE US Open of Curling – Championships. CurlingZone. July 22, 2023.
  13. News: Women’s round-robins draw to a close. World Curling Federation. November 5, 2022. July 22, 2023.
  14. News: Japan women claim first Pan Continental title. World Curling Federation. November 7, 2022. July 22, 2023.
  15. News: Great Britain men and China women win FISU World University Games. World Curling Federation. January 22, 2023. July 22, 2023.
  16. News: Live Blog: Day seven at the WWCC. World Curling Federation. March 24, 2023. July 22, 2023. July 11, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230711034711/https://worldcurling.org/2023/03/dayseven-wwc/. dead.
  17. Web site: 2023 Korean Curling Championships – Women. CurlingZone. April 26, 2024.
  18. News: With fill-in skips, Homan defeats Jones to win Saville Shootout. TSN. September 11, 2023. April 26, 2024.
  19. News: McCarville wins with new teammate Kelly while Tirinzoni continues dominance. TSN. September 17, 2023. April 26, 2024.
  20. Web site: Team Seungyoun Ha: 2023–24. CurlingZone. April 26, 2024.
  21. Web site: Lake Placid 2023 Results .
  22. Web site: Ha Seung-youn Past Teams. CurlingZone. March 14, 2020.