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| Eun-hye Kang / Photo: Korea Handball Federation |
The Sugar Gliders defeated Gyeongnam Development Corp. 24-18 in the Shinhan SOL Bank 25-26 Handball H League women’s match at Samcheok City Gymnasium in Gangwon Province on the 4th at 8 p.m.
The victory tied SK’s club record of 19 consecutive wins (38 points) set last season, leaving the Sugar Gliders two games away from completing a perfect, unbeaten championship. Gyeongnam Development Corp. sits fourth with a 7-4-8 record (18 points).
SK struck first when Choi Ji-hye opened the scoring, with Kim So-ra answering for Gyeongnam. The match swung in Gyeongnam’s favor after goalkeeper Osara produced several big saves, pushing them ahead 5-2. Turnovers by Gyeongnam allowed SK to rally with three straight goals and even the score at 5-5.
Yun Ye-jin converted back-to-back wing shots to put SK ahead 8-7. Both teams traded goals at a frantic pace — sometimes two in the span of a minute — keeping the contest tight. Despite Gyeongnam’s continued mistakes, Osara’s saves kept them in it, but SK closed the half up 12-10.
Gyeongnam struggled to generate offense early in the second half, stalling with offensive fouls, missed shots and several saves by Park Jo-eun that limited them to just two goals over more than 10 minutes. SK took advantage: Choi Ji-hye scored on a 7-meter throw and Yun Ye-jin finished a fast break as the Sugar Gliders pushed the lead to 19-12, a seven-goal margin.
After a scoreless stretch of roughly five minutes, Gyeongnam rallied. Jung Ye-young converted a 7-meter throw and, following another stop by Osara, Gyeongnam strung together consecutive goals to narrow the gap to 19-16. SK, which had gone roughly 10 minutes without scoring, responded when Choi Ji-hye converted another 7-meter throw. Kang Kyung-min then scored twice to extend the lead to 22-16 and help put the game out of reach, with SK finishing the match 24-18.
[Sports Today reporter Kang Tae-gu sports@stoo.com]
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