European and world champions France versus Asian champions Republic of Korea – this fixture promised to be an exciting one and the handball fans in Yamaga City Overall Gymnasium were not disappointed as they saw Korea turn a one-goal half-time deficit around into a two-goal win.

GROUP B
France vs Republic of Korea 27:29 (13:12)

The first half had shown early on that France and Korea were playing at the same level and it was clear that the spectators in the arena would be treated to world-class handball action. Neither of the two teams could take a decisive lead and even though France pulled ahead a few times in the first 30 minutes, Korea, led by a seemingly unstoppable Eun Hee Ryu, always came back. At half-time it was no surprise that the scoreboard showed only one goal difference – 13:12, in favour of France. 

Korea went into the second half being only one goal behind, with every chance to beat the defending world champions. Highly motivated, the Asian champions gave it their all to turn the match around and succeeded right away with two quick goals from Ryu. However, France stood strong and always managed to close the gap – until 10 minutes before the final buzzer. Then, Korea pulled ahead and increased their lead to four in the 56th minute. Even though France were able to score four more times in these last four minutes, Korea did so twice on their part, resulting in a 29:27 win for the Asian team. 
 
Korea’s Eun Hee Ryu (right back) was the top scorer of the match with 12 goals out of 17 attempts (71%).

hummel Player of the Match: Eun Hee Ryu (KOR)