The national team led by coach Henrik Signel (47, Sweden) defeated China 33-20 in the second round of the preliminary round held at Maeda Housing Dong-gu Sports Center in Hiroshima, Japan on the 18th. The national team, which won its second match following the first game against India (53-14) the previous day, rose to first place among the five participating countries (Korea, Japan, China, Kazakhstan, and India) in the preliminaries.
Korea opened the first half with consecutive goals from Shin Eun-joo (30, Incheon City Hall), Kang Gyeong-min (27, Gwangju City Corporation), and Lee Mi-gyeong (32, Busan Facilities Corporation), and Korea never gave up a lead.안전놀이터
At one point in the first half, China’s tough and tough defense faltered in shooting accuracy, but soon the line was reorganized. China narrowed the gap to 5 points (13-8) with 5 minutes left until the end of the first half, but Kang Kyung-min scored 2 points in a row and broke the chase.
After finishing the first half at 16-9, the national team increased their momentum in the second half and widened the gap.
About two minutes into the second half, Shin Eun-joo opened the door with an exquisite shot that flew over the opponent’s goalkeeper’s head, followed by Lee Mi-kyung’s two 7m throws and three consecutive goals (20-9). The defense of the Korean players was so solid that China scored their first goal seven minutes after the start of the second half. Afterwards, in the flow of scramble for points, Korea gradually consolidated its advantage and concluded the game.
Shin Eun-joo, who scored the most points (9 points) in the match against India the previous day, was selected as the MVP of the match with 5 points, and Lee Mi-kyung scored 6 points, the most of both teams, with a 100% success rate. Following this, Kang Kyung-min and Shin Jin-mi (25, Busan Facilities Corporation) played an active role with 4 points side by side.
Park Sae-young (29, Samcheok City Hall) and Jeong Jin-hee (24, Seoul City Hall), who competed in the first and second halves respectively, contributed their strength to the fight without sacrificing themselves. Jeong Jin-hee, who recorded a save rate of 46.2%, also blocked a 7m throw from Chinese Jin Mengqing (28, Jiangsu) at the end of the second half.
Coach Signel said, “Overall, we played a satisfactory game. Of course, you can’t be satisfied with everything in 60 minutes, but the defense was especially good today. The defense organization was solid,” he said. “I want to confirm my advance to the Paris Olympics and go with the players until the Olympics. The Asian Games are next month. There are still matches between Kazakhstan and Japan, so I don’t want to drink kimchi soup. Because anything can happen in sports. In particular, the Korea-Japan match will not be easy.”
Starting with the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Korea played against China 42 times and recorded 36 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses. The last loss was the semi-final of the Asian Championships held here in Hiroshima in 2004, 19 years ago (25-26 loss). Since then, he has won 20 games in a row.
In this preliminary round, which is held as a full league, only one finalist team can go directly to the main round of the Paris Olympics next year. If they place second, they will have to compete again for the right to advance through an intercontinental playoff.
Korean women’s handball was the first in the world to advance to the Olympic finals 10 times in a row for the first time in men’s and women’s handball, and is looking forward to the 11th finals.
After taking a break for two days, Signalho, who gained an advantage with the victory, will continue to challenge Kazakhstan (21st) and Japan (23rd) in the remaining preliminary rounds. Kazakhstan lost 26-33 in its first game against China on the 17th, and Japan beat India 54-17 in its first game.