Women's handball is Korea's only hope for team ball sports

 

The women's handball team, the only ball game in the Korean contingent at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, will be looking to win a medal for the first time in 16 years.

Led by head coach Henrik Signell (SWE), the women's team topped the Asian qualifiers for the Paris Games in August, defeating India, China, Kazakhstan, and Japan to earn a direct ticket to the Olympic Games.

This marks the 11th consecutive Olympic Games for the Korean women's handball team, an unprecedented feat in the history of men's and women's handball.

Korean women's handball has never missed the Olympic Games since the 1984 Los Angeles Games. With the exception of Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, they have gone straight from the Asian qualifiers to the Olympics. In 2004, the team finished third at the World Championships to qualify, and in 2008, the team finished second at the International Handball Federation (IHF) Olympic Qualification.

From the mid-1980s to the late 2000s, Korean women's handball made its mark on the Olympic Games. They won silver at Los Angeles 1984 and gold at Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992. They went on to win silver at Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004, and bronze at Beijing 2008.

However, after reaching the quarterfinals at London 2012, she went downhill. They finished 10th at Rio de Janeiro 2016 and eighth at Tokyo 2020, 바카라사이트 missing the medal hunt for three consecutive Games.

Women's handball is the only ball game South Korea will compete in at the Paris Games. With soccer, volleyball, basketball, and other major team ball sports all excluded from the Olympics, attention has naturally turned to women's handball.

The women's national handball team, which will have to overcome the European powerhouses to win its first Olympic medal in 16 years, is working hard to create a Paris miracle. The team played its first European training camp in Sweden and Norway from February 2 to 21 last month, followed by a second European training camp in Spain and the Netherlands from August 8 to 18.

The women's handball team will travel to Paris, France, for the final stage of the tournament on Sept. 19 and will continue their acclimatization training until Sept. 22. They will then move into the Olympic Village and begin their competition schedule.

Led by Ryu Eun-hee (Gyorgyi, Hungary), who is competing in her fourth Olympic Games, 17 Korean handball players will be competing in the Olympic Games, including Shin Eun-joo, Han Mi-sul (Incheon City Hall), Lee Min-ji, Kang Kyung-min, Kang Eun-hye (SK), Cho Eun-bin, Woo Beetna, Song Ji-young, Jeong Jin-hee (Seoul Metropolitan Government), Shin Shin-mi, Kim Da-young, Song Hae-hari (Busan Facilities Corporation), Kim Bo-eun, Jeon Jeon-yeon, Park Sae-young, Kang Eun-seo (Samcheok City Hall).

South Korea will compete in Group A against Germany (July 25), Slovenia (28), Norway (30), Sweden (Aug. 1) and Denmark (3). The primary goal is to reach the quarterfinals for the second consecutive time following Tokyo 2020.

To do so, they will need to finish fourth or better in their group to qualify for the quarterfinals, which begin next month on August 6th.