Korea beats Russia to reach semis in women's handball

LONDON -- South Korea edged Russia 24-23 to reach the semifinals in women's handball Tuesday at the London Olympics.

South Korea clung to a one-goal lead as Russia held possession in the final minute. But Victoria Zhilinskayte, the tallest player on the court at 190 centimeters, had her desperate shot blocked as the last second ran out.

South Korea led 22-19 with under 10 minutes to go before Russia knotted things up with three unanswered goals in the ensuing five minutes.

Gwon Han-na put South Korea back up by one at 23-22. And after a Russian turnover, Ryu Eun-hee again provided a two-goal cushion with a hard shot through the defense.

With two minutes to go, goalkeeper Ju Hui stopped Nadezda Muravyeva on the 7-meter penalty shot to preserve the 24-22 lead.

Irina Bliznova brought the Russians back to within one. They made a defensive stop to get the ball back as the clock ticked down but couldn't get around the South Korean defense.

The game started out slowly.

South Korea didn't score its first goal until more than six minutes into the game, and then went on a 6-0 scoring run. South Korea built a 11-5 lead with about seven minutes left in the 30-minute first-half. Russia put in four unanswered goals to close the gap before South Korea closed with a 14-11 lead, thanks to consecutive goals by Ryu and Gwon.

The teams began the second half with a little more energy, and Russia tied the score at 15-15 about seven minutes into the latter half. A tense seesaw battle ensued before South Korea got timely defensive stops for the one-goal win.

Gwon led South Korea with six goals, and Ryu and Woo Sun-hee had five goals apiece.

This is South Korea's eighth semifinals appearance in a row. It has won a women's handball medal in six of the past seven Olympics.

Russia, third in Group A, ended its group stage having scored more goals than any other nation with 151.

South Korea finished second in Group B with three wins, one loss and one draw. It was considered a heavy underdog among such European powers as Norway, France, Spain and Denmark, who finished first through fourth at last year's world championships. But South Korea beat Spain and Denmark, while drawing Norway and losing to France.

In Thursday's semifinals, South Korea will face Norway, which defeated Brazil 21-19 in an earlier quarterfinal match. South Korea and Norway drew 27-27 in their group stage meeting last week.

(Yonhap News)