First Handball Loss

South Korea’s Kim Nam-sun, front is blocked by Brazil’s Aline Santos during their women’s handball preliminary match at the Beijing Olympics Friday. Brazil won the match 33-32. / AP-Yonhap

Late-Game Blunder Costs Koreans Against Brazil

By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

When watching the play of South Korea's women handball players, domination is not one of the words that comes to mind.

They are rather described as a vulnerable but resilient bunch of cagey veterans with a habit of getting into trouble, and yet, more often than not, manage to survive on guile and work rate.

So when the Koreans started slowly in their fourth Group B match against Brazil Friday, it seemed as just another typical game for the defending Olympic silver medalists.

However, the Koreans didn't have a late-game turnaround in them on this day, as they conceded a 33-32 defeat to Brazil for their first loss in the Beijing tournament.

Despite the loss, Korea has all but secured a berth in the quarterfinals with a top-four finish in Group B. The Olympic tournament has 12 teams competing in two groups of six.

The Koreans came from behind for a 29-29 draw against reigning world champion Russia in the group opener and had beaten European contenders Germany and Sweden in consecutive matches.

Brazil was clearly considered the underdog heading into the match, but the South Americans apparently benefited from extra motivation as they needed a win to keep their hopes alive for advancing to the knockout stages.

The Koreans, as they did in all three of the previous games, looked sluggish out of the gate and endured a shelling by the Brazilian attack. Failing to develop a rhythm, the Koreans trailed 17-12 at the end of the first half, and the deficit would have been greater if not for the eight saves by goalie Oh Young-ran.

The Koreans responded with more urgency in the second half, with Moon Pil-hee scoring from the arc and Huh Soon-young and An Jung-hwa connecting on fast breaks. They made it 18-15 just three minutes after the whistle.

The Koreans remained within striking range and finally tied it at 31 apiece with six minutes left in the game on consecutive goals by Kim Nam-sun, Park Chung-hee and Huh.

The Koreans then conceded a goal in the following possession, but tied it again on a Hong Jeong-ho penalty shot. Korea had a chance to steal the game but made an uncharacteristic blunder with 30 seconds left in regulation, when they were called for passive play and turned the ball over.

Brazil's Ana Rodrigues scored the game winner with just one second left.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr

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