Shin Eun-ju, Women's National Handball Team
South Korean women's handball cruised to its 11th consecutive Olympic qualification with a convincing win in the first match of the Asian Qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The Korean women's handball team, led by head coach Henrik Signell (SWE), 섯다 cruised to a 53-14 victory over India in the first match of the Paris Olympic Games Asian Qualifier on Sunday at the Maeda Housing Donggu Sports Center in Hiroshima, Japan.
Signell, who took over the reins from Kim Rasmussen (DEN), won her debut match in charge of the national team.
South Korea leads the all-time series against India 6-0.
The first-place team in the five-nation Asian qualifier goes directly to the Olympic Games, while second place earns a spot in the final qualifier, where teams from other continents compete once more.
The goal for the Signels is to win all four games and qualify directly for the Olympic Games.
Korean women's handball has qualified for the Olympic Games 10 times in a row, from Los Angeles 1984 to Tokyo 2020 in 2021.
This is the most consecutive Olympic qualifications for any men's or women's national handball team in the world.
The only other team to qualify for the Olympics in a row is the Spanish men's national team, which qualified nine times before the 2012 London Games.
MVP awarded to Im Kyung
After a strong start to the tournament, Korea will play China on the 18th, followed by Kazakhstan on the 21st and home team Japan on the 23rd.
On the day, South Korea pushed India from the start.
Starting with the first goal from center back Kang Kyung-min (Gwangju City Corporation), the top scorer in the SK Handball Korea League in the 2022-2023 season, the Koreans jumped out to a 14-3 lead.
The Koreans finished the first half with a 28-7 lead and never looked back in the second half.
All players except goalkeepers Jung Jin-hee (Seoul Metropolitan Government) and Park Jo-eun (Gwangju City Corporation) found the back of the net for Korea. 온라인섯다 Shin Eun-joo (Incheon City Hall) led both teams with nine goals.
Lee Im-kyung (Busan Facilities Corporation) was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the match.
"I think the players gained a lot of confidence from today's game," said Signell, adding, "We will face tougher opponents in the future, including China tomorrow and Japan at the end. We will prepare so that we don't lose our focus."
"The floor in the gym was a little harder than in Korea, so it was a little difficult at first, but the players all said that their ankles and Achilles tendons were a little sore, but we won't mind and will adapt quickly," 고스톱 said Im.
Olympic Games Paris 2024 Women's Handball Asia Qualification Results
Korea 53(28-7 25-7)14 India