South Korea beat Japan thanks to Kim Tae-kwan’s eight goals in front of fans filling the gym.
The Korean national handball team defeated Japan 27-25 in the men’s match against Korea in 2025 handball at SK Hawks Arena in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province on the 21st.
In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan, South Korea won the game by playing a dominant game in the first place to promote friendship and improve performance through sports exchanges between the two countries.
사진 확대 Photo 2025 National handball team Korea-Japan match, photo provided = Korea Handball Association
As a result, South Korea will continue its advantage with 11 wins, one draw and two losses in friendly matches between South Korea and Japan, which have continued since 2008.
South Korea led the attack with eight goals by Kim Tae-kwan, four by Kim Jin-ho and Oh Hwang-je, and three by Park Se-woong and Kim Yeon-bin, while goalkeeper Lee Chang-woo scored 12 saves to lead the team to victory.
Japan led the attack with six goals by Ren Arase, four by Kota Nakata, and three by Tomoki Ishida, and Utah Iwashita made seven saves, but it was not enough to prevent the team’s defeat.
South Korea raised its defense to 3-3 from the beginning of the first half, actively blocking Japan’s attacks and gaining momentum. Japan rarely took advantage of the opportunity to attack due to errors. In the meantime, starting with Kim Tae-kwan’s first goal, South Korea started with five goals first due to Oh Hwang-je’s consecutive quick attacks.
Japan actively utilized the wing as the central attack was blocked, and Shodai Fujikawa scored the first goal in 7 minutes and 30 seconds. Japan tried to change the atmosphere with sky play, but Kim Dong-joon noticed and blocked it, showing perfect performance in defense.
Kim Yeon-bin led the early attack by making a quick shot while the opponent’s defense was not predicting, but he was left outnumbered by a two-minute exit. Japan did not miss this opportunity and followed it to 7-4 with the goalkeeper’s good defense.
However, Kim Tae-kwan began to run away again with a series of strong shots, and Kim Jin-ho’s quick shot was followed, widening the gap by 10-4, six goals.
Japan also stepped up its defense and actively defended, slowing down the Korean offense due to errors, but Japan also failed to close the gap easily as it was blocked by errors and goalkeeper Lee Chang-woo’s good defense.
사진 확대 Photo 2025 National handball team Korea-Japan match award ceremony, photo provided = Korea Handball Association
South Korea finished the first half with a 15-8 lead as Kim Jin-ho and Jang Dong-hyun scored consecutive goals. South Korea led the flow perfectly with a high shot success rate of 75% in the first half.
He also started with Kim Tae-kwan’s first goal in the second half. In the early hours, Kim Dong-joon was sent off for two minutes, but Japan’s error led to a 19-10 run by scoring three goals, including Jin Yu-sung and Kim Jin-ho’s consecutive goals.
However, as Kim Yeon-bin was sent off for two minutes, Japan followed with consecutive goals, narrowing the gap to 20-14 and six goals. Japan put seven people on the attack and showed its willingness to chase, but the error was hampered.
South Korea did not allow pursuit even though it missed the opportunity to emphatically, and Park Se-woong and Kim Tae-kwan scored back-to-back goals to run 23-15. If Japan thought it was an opportunity to chase, it had a hard time as it missed the opportunity due to an error.
However, when Korea’s error came out at the end, Japan followed up with 26-24 and two goals, but South Korea won 27-25 when Oh Hwang-je scored a wedge goal from the wing.
Kim Tae-kwan, who scored eight goals, the most in both teams, and was named MVP of the game, said, “It was difficult to call up the national team right after the league and train, but I’m happy to win as a result. I didn’t have any experience with Japan, so I ran with the idea of playing as hard as possible with the idea of hitting it first.
Coach Cho Young-shin, who won the Korea-Japan match, said, “I’m happy to win the Korea-Japan match. “I trained for a short period of time in preparation for the match between Korea and Japan, and I’m grateful that the players showed all their talents and abilities today,” he said, giving credit to the players and saying, “Japan has a history of not knowing how to come up until the end of the game, so I was almost caught up in the second half, but I think I had a good experience today, thinking it was a task to solve.”
[Chungbuk Cheongju = Kim Yongpil, MK Sports Reporter]