Men’s handball team misses out on Asian Games bronze with loss to Japan

Korea fell just short of a men's handball medal at the Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 in central Japan on Tuesday, losing to the hosts by a handful of goals in the bronze medal contest.

Korea failed to overcome a first-half deficit and suffered a 37-32 defeat in Inazawa, just northwest of the main host city Nagoya, with third place on the line.

Korea has now missed the podium in men's handball in back-to-back Asian Games for the first time since the event was added to the competition in 1982. At the 2023 Asiad, Korea finished tied for fifth.

The country's last gold came in 2010 under head coach Cho Young-shin, who was put back in charge this year with the goal of lifting Korea to the podium again.

However, the team lost to the three-time defending champion Qatar 32-20 in the semifinals Monday before absorbing another loss Tuesday.

Korea went down 8-2 less than 10 minutes into the first half and never got within four goals for the rest of the opening 30 minutes.

Korea cut the deficit to three goals early in the second half but got it to 32-28 with about eight minutes to go. From there, though, Japan pulled away with three straight goals.

Yonhap