Kazakhstan's women secured their first international curling medal at the Pacific-Asia Curling Championships ©WCF/Alina Pavlyuchik

Japan's men ended the pool stage of the Pacific-Asia Curling Championships undefeated after a 15-1 hammering of Qatar in Almaty.

Japan had already qualified for the semi-finals along with South Korea.

The pair were joined by Chinese Taipei and hosts Kazakhstan following the final day of round-robin sessions, despite both tasting defeat.

In the only men’s session of the day, South Korea narrowly defeated Chinese Taipei 9-8 and Hong Kong beat Kazakhstan 9-1.

With their losses, Kazakhstan and Chinese Taipei levelled their records at 3-3, and with the help of a better Draw Shot Challenge (DSC) than Hong Kong they advance to the semi-finals.

First-place Japan will play Chinese Taipei in the semi-finals tomorrow while South Korea will meet Kazakhstan.

In the men's division, the gold medallists will earn a place in the next World Men’s Curling Championship, while the silver and bronze medallists will secure places at the World Qualification Event 2022.

Japan's men have won six games out of six at the Pacific-Asia Curling Championships ©WCF/Alina Pavlyuchik
Japan's men have won six games out of six at the Pacific-Asia Curling Championships ©WCF/Alina Pavlyuchik

In today's first women’s session, Kazakhstan played Hong Kong.

With a score of three in the sixth end and a steal of one in the ninth, Kazakhstan won 9-6 and secured their semi-final spot.

This guarantees the host nation a first-ever international curling medal as Hong Kong are eliminated.

"I don’t know what to say!" Kazakhstan skip Angelina Ebauyer reacted.

"I am so happy!

"For us, it’s been step by step for five years and our goal was to medal."

Later on, Hong Kong faced South Korea with the South Koreans, skipped by Kim Eun-jung, winning 9-1 to put them second in the overall standings.

Since Japan and South Korea had the same overall record, and they both beat each other once, the top spot came down to the DSC once more.

With Japan having the better DSC, they received a place in the gold-medal game on Saturday (13 November).

They will play the winner of South Korea and Kazakhstan, who meet in the semi-final in Saturday's (November 13) morning session.

In the women’s tournament, the gold and silver medallists will earn places in the World Women’s Curling Championship, being held in Prince George in Canada in 2022.

The bronze medallists and fourth-placed finishers will secure their places in the World Qualification Event 2022, being held in Lohja in Finland.