South Korea will make its first-ever playoff appearance in the women’s world curling championships.

Korea defeated Russia 7-3 on Thursday to claim the country’s first playoff berth at the Ford World Women’s Curling Championship in Canada.

The Koreans, led by skipper Kim Ji-sun, are playing in their fourth world championships, and already have recorded five wins more than their previous best.

“It’s very exciting, unbelievable. I wanted to win very much, so mentally I was better prepared and now I’m very happy,” 24-year-old Kim said after the game.

Korea first sent a team to the world championships in 2002, in which it failed to win a single game. Seven years later, Korea managed three wins with a 3-8 record and at last year’s championships it won two games out of 11.

This year, Korea made a strong start by beating Sweden 9-8 in its second preliminary rounds game.

Korea derailed favorites Scotland 7-2, the United States 8-3 and also beat Denmark 9-8 with a single point in an extra end, before losing 7-5 to the world No. 1 Canada.

With the win on Thursday, Korea capped its preliminary round with an 8-3 record, securing the playoff berth in the competition.

The format for the Ford World Women’s is a round robin among the 12 competing nations, with the top four teams qualifying for the playoffs.

The top and second teams meet in the first round of playoffs, the winner advancing to the final while the loser drops to the semi-final to meet the winner of the third and fourth-seeded teams.

Korea, which finished third in the preliminary round, is scheduled to play either Canada or the United States on Saturday, while Sweden and Switzerland meet in the playoff between the top and second seed. The final game is scheduled for Sunday.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)