The Korean women’s handball team won a ticket to Paris by defeating Japan in the final round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics. It is a splendid feat of advancing to the finals for the 11th consecutive Olympics, which is unprecedented in the history of men’s and women’s handball.
The national team, led by coach Henrik Signel (47, Sweden), defeated Japan 25-24 in the 4th round of the preliminary round held at Maeda Housing Dong-gu Sports Center in Hiroshima, Japan on the 23rd.
Signalho, who previously defeated India (53-14 win), China (33-20 win), and Kazakhstan (45-24 win) in turn, recorded 4 wins in 4 games by winning against Japan, which was the first place match. In this qualifier, which is held as a full league, only the final 1st place team will be given a direct ticket to the Olympic finals. Their record against Japan is 41 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses.
It was a bloody battle in which they had to deal with the home fans as well as the Japanese national team with solid organization. About 1,450 spectators, who had already filled the stands an hour and a half before the start of the game, chanted “Let’s go, Nippon! (Japan)” to the sound of drums in the gymnasium and surfed to overcome the excitement before cheering. It was a 180 degree change from the previous three matches. The Korean players who warmed up on the court also looked a little nervous.
The beginning was a dragging flow. Kang Gyeong-min (27, Gwangju City Corporation) missed a shot and gave up the right to attack, and Korea fell behind by 0-5, starting with Japan’s left wing Yuki Yoshidome (Hokoku Bank) allowing a run. As shooting and pass accuracy fell, he was blocked by the Japanese defense and overdosed turnovers, failing to stop Japan’s subsequent counterattack. Eventually, within 5 minutes of the start, coach Signel called for a timeout.
Reorganizing the line with a timeout, Korea tightened the reins of the counterattack. Kim Bo-eun (26, Samcheok City Hall) opened the scoring at 5 minutes and 45 seconds, and after one failed attack, Kang Kyung-min scored an additional point. The youngest Kim Min-seo (19, Samcheok City Hall), who was put in 19 minutes behind by 8-12, scored a point by leading a quick attack, and received a long pass following a save by Park Jo-eun (25, Gwangju Metropolitan City Corporation) and Shin Eun-joo (19, Samcheok City Hall). 30 Incheon City Hall) succeeded in scoring and caught up to 2 points (10-12).
The national team, which raised its momentum, Kim Bo-eun, Kang Kyung-min and captain Mi-gyeong Lee (32, Busan Facilities Corporation) scored 3 points in a row and balanced the score (13-13) in the 27th minute of the first half. Japan gave 2 points again, but Kang Eun-hye (27, SK Sugar Gliders) scored with 10 seconds left in the game, ending the first half with a 14-15, 1-point lead.
The second half, which opened with Japan’s goal, was a one-point game. South Korea tied the score again (16-16) with Kang Kyung-min’s 7m throw and Kim Bo-eun’s goal, and Japan’s Ishikawa Sora (Osaka Sports University) and Aizawa Natsuki (Hokoku Bank) lost consecutive runs and lost by two points.
Kim Bo-eun scored two goals in a row to catch up, and in the 11th minute of the second half Lee Mi-kyung shot a reverse shot (19-18) with a shot of the heart. In the tense atmosphere of the Middle Ages, Aizawa’s 7m throw in the 20th minute tied the score at 21-21. Both teams blocked the opponent’s attack for 4 minutes and confronted with salty water defense.안전놀이터
In the 24th minute of the second half, Shin Eun-joo broke the silence and regained the lead (22-21). Japan caught up twice again, but Lee Mi-kyung and Shin Eun-joo shook the net again, and Ryu Eun-hee (Hungarian Gyeryong) scored the final blow to take a two-point lead in the final match with about a minute left until the end of the game. With 20 seconds left, Japan only managed to make up for one point with Natsuki’s goal.
In Korea that day, pivot Kim Bo-eun scored the most goals in the team with 6 points, and Kang Kyung-min, Shin Eun-joo and Ryu Eun-hee added 4 points each. Goalkeeper Park Jo-eun (25, Gwangju City Corporation) also played an active role with a save rate of 46.2% (June 23), blocking Japan’s 7m throw in the 13th minute of the second half. In Japan, Natsuki scored the most points for both teams with 9 points, and Sakura Kametani (French ESBF Besançon), a Norwegian-Japanese mixed-race player who blocked Korean shots at every critical juncture that day, had an save rate of 21.4% (6/28). Recorded.
At the award ceremony following the game, China took third place after Korea (first place) and Japan (second place). Kang Kyung-min was selected as the MVP of the tournament, and Shin Eun-joo (left wing), Mi-kyung Lee (left-back), Saki Hatori (right-wing), Kaho Nakayama (right-back), Natsuki Aizawa (centre back), and Mika Nagata (both from Japan) were selected as the MVP of the tournament. Pivot) and Lu Chang (China Goalkeeper) were selected.
Starting with the 1984 Los Angeles competition, Korean women’s handball, which has never missed the Olympic finals, has achieved a record of 11 consecutive advances to the finals. Except for the 2004 Athens Games and the 2008 Beijing Games, Korea went directly to the Olympics from the Asian qualifiers. In 2004, after placing second in the Asian preliminary round, he won the Olympic ticket by finishing third in the World Championships.