Korea beats China to reach women's handball final
Lee Mi-gyeong of Korea, center, attempts a shot against China in the semifinals of women's handball at the Asian Games at Zhejiang Gongshang University Sports Centre in Hangzhou, China, Oct. 3. Yonhap
Korea defeated the host country China 30-23 to advance to the women's handball final at the Asian Games on Tuesday, moving within a win of winning its eighth gold medal.
Ryu Eun-hee led Korea with seven goals, while the team also played stifling defense to turn a tight game into a comfortable win at Zhejiang Gongshang University Sports Centre in Hangzhou.
In Thursday's gold medal match, Korea will play the winner of the other semifinal match between Japan and Kazakhstan.
Korea has won seven out of eight gold medals in women's handball since it joined the Asian Games in 1990.
Korea took a 15-14 lead at halftime. The game opened with a strong defensive stance by Korea, which held China to one goal in the opening seven minutes.
Korea led 10-6 just past the 15-minute mark of the 30-minute half. But China cut it to 12-11 at 23:50 with a goal by Xin Yan.
Korea got a little more breathing room, with consecutive goals by Kang Kyung-min and Song Ji-young giving the team a 15-12 lead with two minutes to go.
But China battled back to cut the deficit to one again at 15-14, as Zhou Mengxue scored in China's last possession of the half.
Song Ji-young of Korea attempts a shot against China in the semifinals of women's handball at the Asian Games at Zhejiang Gongshang University Sports Centre in Hangzhou, China, Oct. 3. Yonhap
China tied things up at 15-15 about 90 seconds into the second half, but Korea then put together a 7-3 run over the next dozen minutes to build a 22-18 advantage.
Ryu Eun-hee's 7-meter throw put Korea up 24-19 with under 13 minutes to go, and China never threatened again.
Korea's defense came up huge down the stretch, forcing multiple turnovers by China and holding the home team scoreless for well over 10 minutes in one stretch. (Yonhap)