Handball Ajumma Refuse to Lose

South Korea’s Huh Soon-young, center, attempts to shoot over Swedish defenders during their Group B women’s handball match at the Beijing Olympics Wednesday. / Yonhap

By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

From Michael Phelps hitting the gold trail to Park Tae-hwan emerging as Asia's next transcendent sports star, the Olympic storylines so far have been dominated by young and outrageous talents entering their primes.

At the other end of the spectrum are the aging ladies of the South Korean women's handball team, who still do an admirable job of hounding younger, bigger and quicker opponents all around the court in an overzealous chase for Olympic hardware.

The Koreans, and their collectively 34-year-old legs, defeated Sweden 31-23 in the Olympic handball tournament Wednesday in Beijing to maintain their Group B lead and gain an inroad to the knockout rounds.

Korea, which improved to 2-1-0, meets Brazil on Friday and completes its group phase against Hungary on Sunday. The quarterfinals begin Tuesday.

The Koreans were heavily favored against the Swedes, who have yet to register their first win of the tournament, but struggled out of the gate against the physical play of the Europeans. With Johanna Ahlm and Matilda Boson repeatedly breaching the Korean right flank, the Swedes took the lead midway into the first half.

However, with Huh Soon-young establishing her presence around the paint and An Jung-hwa finding the net on the breaks, the Koreans tied the game at 9-9 near the 18-minute mark. The Koreans then limited the Swedes to four points during the remainder of the first half to take an 18-13 lead at the whistle.

The Swedes never came within four points in the second half as the Koreans cruised to the win.

Korea has established itself as an international powerhouse in women's handball, claiming Olympic golds in 1988 and 1992 and a silver in Athens four years ago, after conceding a narrow overtime defeat to Denmark in the final.

However, with the team still retaining the core of the squads sent to Sydney and Athens, skeptics questioned whether the Koreans could maintain their level of skills and pace that separated them in previous tournaments.

The age factor is a concern as the Koreans have always relied on their work rate. However, coach Lim Young-chul's side has managed to look spry so far in the tournament, evidenced by its erasing of a nine-goal deficit in a span of 10 minutes against the mighty Russians to play out to a 29-29 draw in its Group B opener Saturday.

It remains to be seen how far the Koreans can put up their fight against mortality.

The thrilling gold medal match of the Athens Olympics was recently dramatized in a movie earlier this year, starring top Korean actresses like Moon So-ri and Kim Jung-eun, which as a result heightened the expectations for the current team in Beijing.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr

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