(Asiad) S. Korea beats Hong Kong to begin women's handball competition
INAZAWA, Japan, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea started its women's handball tournament at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with a big win on Saturday.
Coached by Lee Kye-chung, South Korea defeated Hong Kong 48-16 at Entrio in Inazawa, just northwest of the main host city, Nagoya, Japan.
South Korea led 5-2 early and then went on an 11-2 run to blow the game wide open.
Lee Won-jung led the way with nine goals and Jeon Ji-yeon chipped in eight goals. A dozen players had at least a goal for South Korea.
Members of the South Korean women's national handball team pose for photos during their open training session for the Asian Games at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, on Sept. 9, 2026. (Yonhap)
The women's handball tournament this time will not feature a knockout stage. The top three teams among the seven in action after round-robin play will take home medals.
South Korea will next play Kazakhstan on Sunday, Uzbekistan on Wednesday, China on Friday, Vietnam next Saturday and Japan on Sept. 27.
Barring upsets along the way, the South Korea-Japan showdown will likely determine the gold medal.
South Korea won gold medals in 2014 and 2018, but lost to Japan in the final of the 2023 competition.
During the pregame ceremony, the anthems for both teams were not played.
The organizers here also had an anthem bungle before a men's field hockey game for South Korea on Friday, when they played North Korea's anthem instead. The organizing committee formally apologized to the South Korean delegation Saturday.
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