Lee Byeong-joo (Korea Sports University) throws a shot in a match against Belarus.
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Dong-chan = Korea lost two straight victories in the group stage of the 27th World Men’s Handball Championship.
Korea lost 24-32 to Belarus in the second round of Group H of the group stage on the fourth day of the tournament held in Cairo, Egypt on the 17th (Korean time).
Korea, which lost 29-51 in the first leg against Slovenia two days ago, remained in the bottom of the group with two losses.
As a result, Korea was confirmed to be eliminated from the group stage with the remaining Russian Handball Association teams, regardless of the match result.
Korea, where the college selection took place, faced relatively evenly at 15-17 in the second half, but could not keep up with the 6-goal gap in the first half.
Kim Jin-young (Kyung Hee University) scored the most goals by scoring 8 goals, and Kim Jin-ho (Korea Sports University) added 5 goals.
Korea will play the final match of the group stage with the Russian Handball Association team at 11:30 pm on the 18th.
In December of last year, Russia was punished for refusing to participate in major international sports competitions such as the Olympics and World Championships for the next two years due to doping manipulation charges.
This is the first competition in which the discipline of Russia is applied, and Russia competed in the status of the’Russian Handball Federation Team’ without using the national flag or country in this competition.
Even if Korea beat Russia in the final match of the group stage and Slovenia lost to Belarus and tied 1-2, the group cannot be placed in 3rd place due to the winner-win principle.
The tournament, in which 32 countries participated, is divided into 8 groups, and after a group stage, the top 3 countries from each group advance to the final league.
◇ 17 days record
▲ Group H
Korea (2 losses) 24 (9-15 15-17) 32 Belarus (1 win 1 draw)
Russia (1 win 1 draw) 31-25 Slovenia (1 win 1 loss)
(End)