Republic of Korea won the Asian Women’s Handball Championship after a thrilling final
Seoul, 4 December 2022
The Republic of Korea has won the 19th Asian Women’s Handball Championship by defeating Japan in a thrilling final by 34–29 in the first extra time. Japan was leading by six goals at halftime, with the score being 16–10. The Republic of Korea mounts a phenomenal comeback and makes it 27–27 at full time before winning the match with a final score of 34–29.
Ten teams, including one from Oceania, competed for the title and five places at the World Championship in an event held at the following two venues across the Republic of Korea:
- Namdong Gymnasium, Incheon
- SK Handball Stadium, Seoul
The participating teams were divided into two preliminary groups as follows:
Group A: Republic of Korea, I. R. Iran, Uzbekistan, India, Australia
Group B: Japan, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong (China), P. R. China, Thailand
The Republic of Korea and I. R. Iran from Group A and Japan and P. R. China from Group B advanced to the semi-finals. India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Thailand had to play in the 5th–8th placement matches after they failed to progress to the semi-finals. Australia takes on Hong Kong (China) for the 9th–10th place match.
Hong Kong (China) comfortably defeated Australia in the 9th–10th place match by 28–26. Thailand defeated Uzbekistan by a score of 39–35 in the 7th–8th place match.
Kazakhstan defeated India in a one-sided 5th–6th place match by 42–31. With this win, Kazakhstan also secured the last spot remaining for the World Championship.
In the semifinals, Japan defeated I. R. Iran by 43–19, and the Republic of Korea defeated P. R. China by 34–16.
In the bronze medal match, P. R. China defeated I. R. Iran by 39–24 after leading 20–11 at halftime.
In the gold medal match, the Republic of Korea defeated Japan by 34–29. This is the sixteenth time that the Republic of Korea has won the Asian Women’s Handball Championship.
The Republic of Korea, Japan, P. R. China, I. R. Iran, and Kazakhstan have qualified for the 26th IHF Women’s Handball World Championship to be held in Denmark/Norway/Sweden from 30th November to 17th December 2023.
Final Rankings:
- Republic of Korea *
- Japan *
- P. R. China *
- I. R. Iran *
- Kazakhstan *
- India
- Thailand
- Uzbekistan
- Hong Kong, China
- Australia
(*) Qualifies for the 26th IHF Women’s Handball World Championship to be held in Denmark/Norway/Sweden from 30th November to 17th December 2023.
All the details about the championship can be found here.
