Korean handball gets own arena

National men’s team beats Japan 31-18 in Olympic qualifier at new stadium


A new 5,000-seat handball stadium was unveiled at Olympic Park in southern Seoul on Sunday, in a boost for the sport here.

And the men’s national team celebrated the day by playing their opener against Japan in their first Asian qualifying tie for London Olympics.

Manager Choi Suk-jae, who had spent the last few weeks preparing for the Asian qualifier, called the unveiling of the hi-tech handball stadium a “huge milestone.”

On Friday, with the smell of paint still lingering, the national team, including veteran left attacker Yoon Kyung-shin were the first handballers to set foot on the court.

Yoon said that he felt “overwhelmed,” at seeing the stadium, and it reminded him of the one in Germany where he played from 1996-2007.

“Handball is popular sport in Germany. They have several handball stadiums. But we now finally have one here,” Yoon said, adding that he was excited and also nervous about the opening game at the newly built handball stadium.

The 38-year-old veteran, who joined the national team at age 17, admitted that it is his first international match in front of the home crowd.

“We didn’t have a place to play the game. I’m a little bit nervous to play in front of the home crowd and also my family,” he said.

The new handball venue used to be the fencing stadium for the 1986 Seoul Asian Games and the 1988 Olympics.

The renovation, constructed by SK Engineering & Construction, took 16 months to complete.

The arena also includes two new LED screens, a VIP lounge and sky boxes for fans.

The company’s project manager Yun Jeong-bae said that the renovation was almost as hard as building a new stadium.

“We changed everything except the roof, which we kept as it has a symbolic value. So it was almost same as building a new venue,” he said.

Yun added that one of the unique features of the new arena is a 300-seat additional stadium that serves as a practice venue for players.

“In order to host international games, a separate practice venue is necessary. But we couldn’t find enough space here, so it was built underground, underneath the Olympic square,” explained Yun.

The idea of building a new handball stadium first started by SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won when he became the head of Korean Handball Federation in 2008. Chey and the SK Group donated 43 billion won ($37.5 million) to complete the country’s first ever handball arena.

After three years of planning and preparation, the new hi-tech venue opened its door on Sunday. And as the opening event, the Men’s Asian qualifying tournament for he London 2012 Olympics will be held over the next 10 days.

Ten teams, including Korea, Japan and Kuwait will be divided into two groups, with the winners and runners-up in each advancing to the semifinals.

Group A consists of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Iran. And the 2010 Asian Games gold medalist Korea is in Group B with Japan, China, Kazakhstan and Oman.

The winners of this tournament will secure an automatic berth in London 2012, with the runner-up going forward to another round of qualifiers.

Choi believes the atmosphere will be amazing, with all the players and spectators experiencing the newly built handball arena.

“The spectator seats are very close to the court. It will make for a much more exciting and spectacular handball experience.”

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)