South Korea's women's handball team reclaims Asian Games gold after 8 years, defeating Japan

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.