Seong Ji-hoon, left, and Kim Kyeong-ae of South Korea stand on the podium after winning silver in the mixed doubles curling event at the Asian Winter Games at Harbin Pingfang District Curling Arena in Harbin, China, Feb. 8. Yonhap

South Korea claimed silver in the mixed doubles curling event at the Asian Winter Games, Saturday after narrowly losing to Japan in a tense final.

Kim Kyeong-ae and Seong Ji-hoon fell to Tori Koana and Go Aoki 7-6 at the Harbin Pingfang District Curling Arena in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin.

The teams traded two points each in the first two ends. With Japan holding the hammer, South Korea stole two points to begin the final after Go Aoki failed to execute a takeout with the last Japanese stone. But in the second end, Kim couldn't quite push a Japanese stone out of the house, opening the door for Aoki to put a second Japanese rock in the scoring area with his last shot and grab two points.

Back and forth they went. South Korea grabbed a point in the third end thanks to Kim's draw with the last stone, only to see Japan move ahead 4-3 with two points in the fourth end.

Japan opened up a 5-3 lead after the fifth end, with South Korea struggling with its shots.

South Korea could only manage a point in the sixth end, but then stole two points in the seventh end thanks to Kim's deft shotmaking.

Kim Kyeong-ae,left, and Seong Ji-hoon of South Korea compete in the final of the mixed doubles curling event at the Asian Winter Games at the Harbin Pingfang District Curling Arena in Harbin, China, Feb. 8. Yonhap

Japan, though, clinched the victory with two points in the eighth and final end, after Kim failed to take out a couple of Japanese rocks with her last shot.

Kim said she was disappointed to have come up short of her goal of winning gold in Harbin, but chose to look on the brighter side.

"We've improved from last month and we can only keep getting better from here," said Kim, who only became a mixed doubles partner with Seong last year. "I think this was our first step toward the highest point."

Kim, 31, won silver at the 2017 Asian Winter Games with the women's team. This was Seong's first Asiad appearance at age 27.

"I knew there would be some pressure in the gold medal game but it was one thing to anticipate it and quite another to feel it firsthand," Seong said. "I don't think I performed as well as I wanted. But this will help me prepare for future competitions. I'll try to keep getting better from here and I am looking forward to the world championships in April."

Koana and Aoki are No. 5 in the mixed doubles world rankings, while Kim and Seong are No. 59.

The mixed doubles event made its Asian Games debut here. South Korea will look to add medals in the women's and men's events later in the seven-day Asiad. (Yonhap)