Lim Hyo-jun, the men's 1,500m champion from last Saturday, will chase his second gold medal. He is one of three South Koreans to have made it to the quarterfinals, but as fate would have it, Lim, Seo Yi-ra and Hwang Dae-heon have been paired into the same group. Only the top two skaters from each group will advance to the semifinals, meaning at least one of the three South Koreans will be eliminated.

It would take an exceptional situation to have all three in the next round -- if one of the Koreans is fouled by a non-Korean skater and doesn't finish in the top two, the referee may decide to put the Korean into the next round.

The female skaters will begin with the heats in the 1,500m. Choi Min-jeong, who was penalized for impeding in the 500m final after crossing the line in second place, will try to bounce back in her main event. Shim Suk-hee, the 2014 Olympic silver medalist in the 1,500m, and Kim A-lang will also skate in the heats.

Over at Gangneung Hockey Centre, South Korea will take on Switzerland in the men's hockey tournament. South Korea, ranked 21st, gave the sixth-ranked Czech Republic all it could handle in a 2-1 loss on Thursday. Switzerland, ranked seventh, lost to the top-ranked Canada 5-1 in its first game on Thursday.

South Korean players were beaming with confidence after Thursday's match. Cho Min-ho, the second line center who scored South Korea's first-ever Olympic goal, said the Swiss should be nervous facing the host country.

(Yonhap)