Eight women’s teams from Asia travelled to Suwon, Korea to take part in the 16th edition of the Asian Women’s Championship, taking place from 13 to 22 March 2017.

 

In Group A and B both, the Preliminary Round could not have been clearer. Korea prevailed in Group A, winning all three of their matches with ease – they started off with a 48:11 win over Vietnam, continued with a 44:22 victory over Iran and finished the Preliminary Round by defeating China, on rank 2 after the first round, 43:24. In Group B, Japan steamrolled Hong Kong (37:7) and Uzbekistan 39:16 and defeated Kazakhstan by 28:14.

 

As expected, the first semi-final went to Korea who won against Kazakhstan clearly with 41:20. The second semi-final, however, kept everybody on the edge of their seats. After a 12:12 half-time score, China could pull away, leading by 22:16 – but with an impressive comeback Japan claimed the victory in the end, winning by one goal 27:26. 

 

Thus, Korea will play against Japan in the final on 22 March and are at the same time already qualified for the 2017 Women’s World Championship in Germany. In the match for third place, Kazakhstan face China.