Korean Women's Handball Faces Quarterfinal Uncertainty... 3rd Consecutive Loss to Sweden [Paris Olympics]

The South Korean women's handball team faced a dark cloud over their advancement to the quarterfinals after suffering their third consecutive defeat in the group stage of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Led by coach Henrik Signell (Sweden), the South Korean team lost 21-27 to Sweden in the fourth match of Group A in the women's handball group stage held on the 1st at the South Paris Arena in Paris, France. After winning the first match against Germany, South Korea consecutively lost to Slovenia, Norway, and Sweden, resulting in a record of 1 win and 3 losses.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

South Korea struggled against the tall Swedish team from the beginning of the first half. Unlike the match against Norway two days earlier, where the score was tied 10-10 until the 25th minute of the first half, the score gap widened early in this game, trailing by 6-13, a 7-goal difference. South Korea managed to recover 3 goals in a row, led by goals from Woo Bitna (Seoul City Hall) and Kang Eunhye (SK), and at 9-14, Shin Eunju (Incheon City Hall) and Ryu Eunhee (Gyori, Hungary) each scored a goal to narrow the gap to 11-14.

However, about one minute before the end of the first half, the momentum was broken when the referee awarded Sweden a 7-meter throw despite Sweden’s attack involving a foul-like play. South Korea conceded the 7-meter throw at a 3-goal difference, increasing the gap to 4 goals, and eventually ended the first half trailing 11-16.

In the second half, South Korea fiercely chased the score, with Ryu Eunhee, Kang Kyungmin (SK), and Kim Dayoung (Busan Facilities Corporation) scoring consecutively to narrow the gap to 2 goals with 13 minutes remaining at 14-20. However, after conceding 2 goals in a row again, the gap widened to 4 goals, and Kang Kyungmin’s 7-meter throw was blocked by the opposing goalkeeper.

On this day, Kang Kyungmin scored 5 goals for South Korea, while Shin Eunju, Kang Kyungmin, and Kang Eunhye each recorded 4 goals.

South Korea will play their final group stage match against Denmark at 4 a.m. on the 4th. Denmark is a powerhouse that finished third in last year’s World Championship. South Korea must at least draw or win against Denmark to have a chance to advance to the quarterfinals, depending on the results of the remaining matches of Germany and Slovenia.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.