In the face of South Korea, a strong Asian team in women’s handball, the girls of the China team stood up for the first half of the game, and failed to perform well in the latter part of the game, so they missed the final.
The women’s handball event of the Hangzhou Asian Games started the semi-final competition on the 3rd, and China met the defending champion Korean team head-on. In the face of strong rivals, China was only one goal behind in the first half. In the second half, when the opponent strengthened the defense, the China team missed the attack and finally lost by 23-30.
In the handball event of the Asian Games, China team is in Group B with four Japanese teams. In the first three rounds of preliminaries, China maintained a total victory. In the fourth round, China narrowly defeated the Japanese team by one point, advanced to the semi-finals with the second place in the group, and competed with the Korean team for the final tickets.
South Korea has always been the only team in Asian women’s handball. Since the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing, they have won the women’s handball championship seven times. In the women’s handball competition of Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010, China beat the Japanese team to win the championship, becoming the only team that has won the gold medal in the Asian Games except the Korean team.
In women’s handball, the Korean team has always been a mountain that China wants to climb. In the final of the Asian Games in Jakarta, China lost to the Korean team and missed the championship. A month ago, China lost to the Korean team and then to the Japanese team in the qualifiers of the Paris Olympic Games, and finally missed the Paris Olympic Games.
Shortly after the semi-final of the Asian Games, China defender Jin Mengqing and attacker Liu Chan were sent off for two minutes, which affected the rhythm of the China team. South Korea started with defense and counter-attack. China team chose to break through the bottom corners on both sides, and Zhang Haixia and Tian Xiuxiu scored goals continuously. At half-time, China was 14-15 behind. In the easy-side battle, both teams focused on the defensive end. There were not many ways for China to break through the intensive defense, and the South Korean team gradually opened the score through more effective shooting. Before the end, the China team tried their best to catch up, but finally lost.
Team member Tian Xiuxiu said after the game: “Before the game, we thought about lowering our posture to attack our opponents. In the second half, everyone changed their mentality and wanted to win the game too much, which led to insufficient strain.”
When the attack of China team was not smooth in the second half, it was replaced by substitute players, but the effect was little, which also revealed the problem of insufficient thickness of the bench. China had a similar situation against the Japanese team last time. China coach Zheng Yongli said, “The support of substitute players is not enough. We must also strive to improve the strength of the main force and replace the two lineups. “
In the past month, they played against South Korea twice. Although China lost both times, the score difference narrowed from 13 points last time to 7 points this time. Zheng Yongli said, “We have been working hard to be ourselves, and at the same time, we must also see the gap in strength between the two sides, including the experience level. Our team is relatively young, and I personally led the team to participate in the Asian Games for the first time. This is a good opportunity for China women to reach the finals in the past 13 years, but it backfired and we need to sum it up. ” He said that the team’s next goal is to focus on the 2028 Olympic qualifiers.
China women’s hands have made great achievements, winning the bronze medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, ranking sixth at the Beijing Olympic Games and winning the championship at the Guangzhou Asian Games. In recent years, the development of handball in China has been relatively quiet, and its achievements have fluctuated. However, with the joint efforts of all parties, handball is now enjoying a good development momentum. Apart from the China Handball Super League and the National Handball Champions Cup, there are also the China Handball City League, the China University Handball Championship, the National Primary School Handball Championship and the National Children Handball Carnival. The atmosphere of the events is getting stronger and stronger, which will also expand the influence of the project and attract more people to participate. “This is a good thing for handball, and I will personally participate in the popularization of the project and jointly promote the development of handball.” Zheng Yongli said.