▲ Men's National Handball Team
Cho Young-shin, head coach of the men's national handball team, which achieved its initial goal of reaching the semifinals at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, has expressed his determination to defeat semifinal opponent Qatar using unconventional close defense.
The national team defeated China in the quarterfinals yesterday (September 26) and will compete for a ticket to the final against Qatar, which edged past Iran, tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. at the Inazawa Entrio in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
South Korea has returned to the Asian Games semifinals for the first time in eight years since the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games, where it won the bronze medal.
In the Group B preliminary round, South Korea lost to powerhouse Bahrain, but secured a stepping stone to the semifinals by defeating tough opponent Kuwait 26-23.
They drew 26-26 with Iran and overwhelmingly defeated Kazakhstan by a 22-goal margin.
Coach Cho noted on September 27, "As we prepared for this tournament over the past four months, our team's chemistry has improved," adding, "Through systematic strength and conditioning training, being able to hold our ground equally on defense against physically large and fast Middle Eastern players served as the foundation for achieving our primary goal."
In particular, reflecting on the group stage, he noted that after defeating Kuwait in the first match—a must-win encounter to reach the semifinals—the players struggled more in the second match against Iran due to the heavy burden of having to win. He explained that the team navigated the group stage by fully utilizing all 16 squad members to maximize their strengths: rapid offense-defense transitions and pressing defense.
Regarding semifinal opponent Qatar, Coach Cho offered a clear-eyed assessment, saying, "They are a team aiming for their fourth consecutive Asian Games title and are objectively superior to us."
At the same time, he voiced his determination, stating, "We defeated Qatar at the Asian Hockey Championship in January this year, so we will pour everything we have into this match with that confidence and fighting spirit."
During the group stage of that Asian Championship, South Korea edged Qatar 32-31 by a one-goal margin.
Coach Cho explained, "Qatar possesses strong mid-range scoring capabilities, meaning we cannot match them through conventional game management," adding, "We plan to employ unconventional close defense built on strong stamina and approach the game with fast transitions between offense and defense." He continued, "Even in attack, rather than driving straight through, we plan to execute an outside positional attack strategy that expands Qatar's defensive coverage."
If the unconventional close defense—which has not been deployed against other Middle Eastern powerhouses—works, the men's handball team can pull off a major upset and secure at least a silver medal.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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