Korea beats Japan 27-23, avenging a lopsided loss three years ago

South Korea's Park Sae-young blocks a shot during the women's handball round-robin final against Japan at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held at Inazawa Entrio in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Sunday. [Yonhap]
South Korea's Park Sae-young blocks a shot during the women's handball round-robin final against Japan at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held at Inazawa Entrio in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Sunday. [Yonhap]

South Korea's women's handball team defeated rival Japan to reclaim the Asian Games title for the first time in eight years.

The national team, led by head coach Lee Gye-cheong, beat Japan 27-23 in the women's handball round-robin final at Inazawa Entrio in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Sunday.

With a perfect six-win record, South Korea secured the gold medal — its eighth Asian Games title overall and first since the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games. The victory also erased the pain of a 19-29 thrashing by Japan in the final at the 2022 Hangzhou Games.

Despite playing in front of a crowd cheering overwhelmingly for the home side, South Korea seized control from the outset. Kwon Han-na and Ryu Eun-hee, both of Busan Facilities Corporation, along with Kim Bo-eun of Samcheok City Hall, led the attack as Korea took a 16-12 lead into halftime. The two 36-year-old veterans, Ryu and Kwon, combined for nine goals in the first half alone.

In the second half, Korea's defense repelled Japan's comeback attempts. With the score at 21-18, Ryu was sent off for two minutes, leaving Korea a player short — but goalkeeper Park Sae-young of Samcheok City Hall made a string of saves and the team's collective defense held firm without conceding.

Jung Jin-hee of Seoul City Hall then stopped a Japanese penalty shot, and consecutive goals from Jeon Ji-yeon and Kim Bo-eun stretched the lead to 23-18 with 10 minutes remaining. When Japan closed the gap to 24-22 late in the game, Park came up with another key save before captain Kwon scored with about three minutes left to seal the win.

Park stopped 12 shots, posting a save rate of 41 percent, and was the standout contributor to the gold medal victory.

When the final whistle blew, the players sprinted around the court in a circle before unfurling the South Korean flag and savoring their return to the top of the podium after eight years.

South Korea's players pose for a photo after defeating Japan to clinch the gold medal in the women's handball round-robin final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held at Inazawa Entrio in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Sunday. [Yonhap]
South Korea's players pose for a photo after defeating Japan to clinch the gold medal in the women's handball round-robin final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held at Inazawa Entrio in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on Sunday. [Yonhap]

yjc@heraldcorp.com