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The handball action at the Asian Games 2018 continues at the Popki Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia. The first match of the day saw Thailand (7) taking on Indonesia from Group B. Thailand have lost their opening group match against Japan and were looking to turn the tide against the hosts. Indonesia, however, won their first game against Malaysia and were looking to continue their good form against the Thais.
Thailand showed great speed and notched up 6 fast break goals and 6 more goals from the wing and ended with a overall shot efficiency of 68% (34 goals scored from 50 attempts). They won the game 34-16 (19-6 at the interval). Hongbooddee Sunanta (THA) scored 10 goals and Bunjarern Pawinee (THA) scored 9 goals.
Japan (2) were to play Hong Kong (6) in the second match of the day, which was touted to be a close encounter. This was Hong Kong's first match of the Games and they were looking to play well against the strong Japanese team.
Japan romped home past Hong Kong with a score line of 41-13 (18-5 at the end of the first half). Akiyama Natsumi and Fujita Asuka scored 6 goals each for Japan. Cheung Mei Ngo of (HKG) scored 6 goals. Japan scored 41 goals out of 52 attempts and ended the game with a 79% shot efficiency. They also scored 9 fast break goals and 13 goals from the wing.
South Korea pummel India
The third match of the day saw the top seeds South Korea playing India (8). South Korea won their opening match against North Korea and were looking to continue the same form against their opponents. The Indians lost to a more physical opponent, Kazakhstan in their previous match.
South Korea crushed India to a 45-18 victory. The score was 20-9 at the break. Yu Sojeong (KOR) scored 12 goals and Gim Boeun (KOR) scored 11 goals. For India, Ritu scored 6 goals. The Indians were outclassed by the Koreans, who had a shot efficiency of 76%, converting 45 of their 59 attempts. They also scored 10 wing goals, 12 goals from the 7m line and 15 fast break goals. The Indians were lacking big time in match experience and they would only get better when they are exposed against such strong opponents.
The final match of the day saw Kazakhstan (3) against China (4). China were to prove a point against the Kazakhs. As expected, the match was a closely contested affair with Kazakhstan prevailing in the end by a margin of one goal with the score line reading 27-26 (11-11).
Abilda Dana (KAZ) scored 7 goals closely followed by Alexandrova Irina (KAZ), scoring 6. Chinese Li Yao scored 6 goals.
Group Standings
Group A: South Korea 4 points, Kazakhstan 4, China 0, North Korea 0 and India 0.
Group B: Japan 4, Thailand 2, Indonesia 2, Malaysia 0 and Hong Kong 0.
