Korean women's handball team starts Asian Games with convincing 42-16 win

The Korean women’s handball team thrashed Uzbekistan 42-16 in their first group stage game at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Monday, starting their bid to win a third consecutive Asiad gold medal with a dominant performance.

Both sides scored two quick goals in the early going at Zhejiang Normal University Xiaoshan Gymnasium in Shaoxing, China.

Korea then started to extend their lead at 2-2, scoring multiple goals to take the score to 6-2. Uzbekistan’s attempt to bounce back fell short and the score gap between the two sides became bigger.

Korea took the score to 14-6 and effectively blocked Uzbekistan’s attacks to end the first half at 18-6.

Korea also dominated in the second half, scoring multiple goals while allowing a few. The match seemed completely one-sided by the 43rd minute when the score became 30-13.

They continued their dominance through the end of the match, winning 42-16.

Yun Ye-jin was the top scorer of the match, with six goals to her name.

The huge win for Korea does not come as a surprise, as Korea is the winningest country in Asian Games handball history.

The women's team has won seven gold medals in total. They have won a gold in every Asiad since the 1990 tournament, apart from the 2010 event when China claimed the gold.

Korea is in Group A with Uzbekistan, Thailand and Kazakhstan this year. The team will next face Thailand at the same venue on Wednesday.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]