Men's Handball: 26-26 Draw with Iran... One Win, One Draw in Group Stage

The Korean men's national handball team drew against a formidable Iranian side.

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Led by head coach Cho Youngshin, the team played to a 26-26 (13-14, 13-12) draw with Iran in the Group B second preliminary round match held at Entrio in Inazawa, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on September 22, 2026.

The men's national handball team players are conducting an open training session at the media day for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games handball team held on the 9th at the Jinchun National Training Center in Jinchun County, Chungbuk. Photo by Yonhap News

After defeating the challenging Kuwait team the previous day, Korea now has one win, one draw, and three points, ranking third in its group behind Bahrain, which has recorded two consecutive wins and earned four points, and Kuwait, which has also secured four points with two wins and one loss, playing one more match than Korea.

Korea, trailing 5-9 in the first half, successfully made a comeback by scoring five consecutive goals, but after exchanging leads with Iran, finished the first half 13-14, just one point behind.

With about 10 minutes remaining in the second half, Korea scored three consecutive goals to widen the gap to 23-20, seemingly securing victory.

However, they immediately conceded three consecutive points, allowing Iran to tie the game. After continued back-and-forth between the two teams, the match ended in a 26-26 draw.

Kim Jinyoung led the team with seven goals, while Jeon Jinsu and Park Sewoong added five and four goals respectively, each maintaining a 100% success rate.

Korea will face powerhouse Bahrain in their third preliminary match at the same venue on September 23 at 5:30 p.m.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.