The FISU World University Handball Championship in Rijeka, Croatia ended on Sunday, with Japan celebrating the women’s title and Republic of Korea raising the men’s trophy. Korea also took the bronze medal in the women’s competition, while Japan claimed bronze in the men’s category.

 

In the women’s competition, Japan beat Brazil 27:19 in the final after a near-perfect campaign that saw them lose only one match – to their final opponents.  

 

“We still cannot believe what just happened,” Japan captain Horikawa Mana told the official website of the competition after the victory. “We are happy, we are thrilled. We didn’t expect this at all.”

 

Japan started the championship in Group A, where they finished second behind Brazil. The Asian side defeated Czech Republic and Croatia but lost to the Pan American champions. Group B was won by Republic of Korea, who took four straight victories in the preliminary round, beating Poland, Romania, Spain and Uruguay.

 

The top two teams from each group qualified for the semi-finals, while the remaining sides played a round of placement matches to determine rankings five to nine. Japan’s semi-final was a rematch of the 2017 Asian Championship trophy match won by Korea en route to their 13th title. This time, it was Japan who came out on top, with a 28:21 win. In their semi-final, Brazil beat Poland 29:27.

 

In the bronze-medal match, it was Korea who recovered from the disappointment of losing the semi-final faster, as they beat Poland by three goals, 22:19.

 

In the men’s final, Korea’s traditionally fast-paced, spectacular game gave hosts Croatia trouble, and the Asian side overcame their European rivals with a 36:31 result. Just like title winners Japan in the women’s competition, Korea did not top their preliminary round group. Instead, they placed second behind Japan following victories over Chinese Taipei, Poland and Romania.

 

Portugal won Group A in what was a complicated mathematical battle, as the first three teams (Portugal, Croatia and Egypt) all finished with the same number of points. Egypt were therefore unlucky to miss a place in the semi-finals, while Portugal and Croatia proceeded to the knock-out games and Czech Republic and Lithuania went on to contest the 5-10 placement round.

 

In the semi-final stage, Croatia defeated Japan by one goal, 28:27. Korea enjoyed a much more decisive result, beating Portugal 37:26.

 

More information on the World University Championship can be found on the official website for the event.

 

Photos: Asian Handball Federation