[Nagoya AG] Women's Handball Retakes Gold After 8 Years, Avenges Hangzhou Loss by Defeating Japan

Veterans Kwon Hanna and Ryu Eunhee score 7 and 6 goals each
Confirms overwhelming skill gap...Eighth gold medal in history

South Korea’s women’s handball team has reclaimed the top spot in Asia after eight years.

The women’s handball national team, led by head coach Lee Gyecheong, won 27-23 against Japan in the final pool league match of the 2026 Aichi Nagoya Asian Games, held on the 27th at Entrio in Inazawa, near Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

With this victory, South Korea secured the gold medal by achieving six consecutive wins in this tournament.

Korean women's handball star Ryu Eunhee is looking for a teammate to pass the ball through the opponent's defense during the final match of the women's handball pool league against Japan at Entrio in Inazawa, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on the 27th for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Seven countries participated in the women’s handball competition at this event. Without a separate tournament bracket, the seven teams played a round-robin pool league, where medal standings were decided based on the results. Both South Korea and Japan entered the day’s sixth and final match of the pool league with five consecutive wins, making it a de facto championship match.

With this achievement, South Korea’s women’s handball team has now won its eighth gold medal at the Asian Games. Women’s handball was first officially included as an event at the 1990 Beijing Games. Since then, South Korea won five consecutive golds from the 1990 Beijing Games to the 2006 Doha Games, and has claimed gold at every edition except the 2010 Guangzhou and the 2022 Hangzhou Games.

This gold medal also served as redemption for the defeat to Japan in the previous tournament. South Korea had suffered a heavy 19-29 loss to Japan in the final of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, settling for silver.

Veterans Kwon Hanna and Ryu Eun-hee led the team to victory. Team captain Kwon Hanna scored the highest on the team with seven goals, including two 9-meter shots and two penalty throws. Ryu Eun-hee, the star of women’s handball, scored a total of six goals, with four coming from the 6-meter line.

Until the middle of the first half, the match saw South Korea taking the lead and Japan closing the gap. At around the 10-minute mark, South Korea pulled ahead 7-4, but Japan responded with three consecutive goals to tie it at 7-7 with 16:15 left in the half. South Korea pulled away again to make it 10-7, but Japan drew closer, narrowing the gap to 10-9 at the 20-minute mark. Afterward, consecutive goals by Jeon Ji-yeon, Ryu Eun-hee, and Kwon Hanna extended South Korea’s lead to 13-9, and the team finished the first half ahead 16-12.

The South Korean women's handball team players embraced and cheered after securing the gold medal by defeating Japan 27-23 in the final match of the women's handball pool league at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held on the 27th at Entrio in Inazawa, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Yonhap News

In the second half, South Korea maintained a lead of around four points, but faced fierce pursuit from Japan in the closing minutes. With 4 minutes and 24 seconds remaining, Japan scored three consecutive goals, closing the gap to 24-22.

However, Kwon Hanna broke through for a key goal and also assisted Ryu Eun-hee’s score, helping South Korea escape the danger. With 1 minute and 27 seconds left, Kwon Hanna converted another penalty throw earned by Woo Bitna, extending the lead to five goals and sealing the victory.

South Korea displayed overwhelming strength throughout the tournament. Aside from the match against Japan, the narrowest margin of victory was in the 37-17 win over China on the 25th. Against Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam, South Korea scored in the 40s while holding those opponents to scores in the teens.

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