Republic of Korea won the 18th Asian Games women’s handball tournament yesterday, defeating China 29:23 (12:9) in the final last night.

The tournament saw 10 teams - Republic of Korea (KOR), Kazakhstan (KAZ), China (CHN), India (IND), Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (PRK), Indonesia (INA), Japan (JPN), Hong Kong (HKG), Thailand (THA) and Malaysia (MAS) - competing in a preliminary round of two groups, before moving on to the placement and knockout rounds.

Korea coach Keychung Lee, in his first tournament as national team coach, saw his side lead in the final by three at the break (12:9), Korea showed their strength in the second half to double their winning advantage thanks to eight goals from Yura Jung, although Xiamei Liu did her best to keep China in touch, scoring 10 in total, but Korea goalkeeper Saeyoung Park did her very best too, ending with a 46% save rate after stopping 12 Chinese attempts.

Korea had got to the final by winning all their preliminary group games (vs PRK 39:22, IND 45:18, CHN 33:24 and KAZ 34:22) and semi-final, against Thailand 40:13.

To get to the final, China, led by new coach – the experienced German Jörn-Uwe Lommel – won their last preliminary match against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 34:31 to set up a semi-final against Japan which they edged 32:31 thanks a strike from Lan Xiaoling with just over 90 seconds remaining.

Japan did have something to celebrate though as, led by Danish coach Ulrik Kirkely, they easily beat Thailand 43:14 in the bronze medal match,

The 2018 result means that Korea defend their 2014 title won at home in Korea and makes it seven gold medals out of eight since the women’s competition started at the Asian Games, after China won the 2010 edition.

For more information visit the official website at https://www.asiangames2018.id/sports/name/bola-tangan.

1 Gold – Republic of Korea (KOR)

2 Silver – China (CHN)

3 Bronze – Japan (JPN)

4 Thailand (THA)

5 Democratic People’s  Republic of Korea (PRK)

6 Kazakhstan (KAZ)

7 Hong Kong (HKG)

8 Indonesia (INA)

9 India (IND)

10 Malaysia (MAS)

9/10 Place: IND vs MAS 54:19

5-8 Place: PRK vs INA 59:15

5-8 Place: HKG vs KAZ 23:35

Semi-Final 1: KOR vs THA 40:13

Semi-Final 2: JPN vs CHN 31:32

7-8 Place: INA vs HKG 16:30

5-6 Place: PRK vs KAZ 32:30

Bronze (3/4 Place): THA vs JPN 14:43

Gold (1/2 Place): KOR vs CHN 29:23

IND vs KAZ 19:36

THA vs JPN 16:41

PRK vs KOR 22:39

MAS vs INA 15:23

THA vs INA 34:16

HKG vs JPN 13:41

IND vs KOR 18:45

CHN vs KAZ 26:27

THA vs HKG 30:24

JPN vs MAS 64:3

IND vs CHN 21:36

KAZ vs PRK 33:37

PRK vs IND 49:19

MAS vs THA 12:40

CHN vs KOR 24:33

HKG vs INA 35:11

MAS vs HKG 15:40

PRK vs CHN 31:34

KOR vs KAZ 34:22

INA vs JPN 6:62