Gyeongnam Development Corporation, led by Lee Yeon-kyung and Oh Sara, defeated Samcheok City Hall to close in on leaders SK Sugar Gliders. Gyeongnam Development Corporation defeated Samcheok City Hall 25-21 in the seventh game of the second round of the Shinhan SOL Pay 2023-2024 Handball H League Women’s Division at the Namdong Gymnasium in Incheon on Wednesday. Lee Yeon-kyung was named the match MVP after leading Gyeongnam Development Corporation to victory with 10 goals. Kim Sora also contributed five goals, while goalkeeper Osara made 14 saves to secure the win. Gyeongnam Development Corporation, which has won three straight matches, remains in second place with 11 wins, one draw and two losses and 23 points, two points behind SK Shoogles. Samcheok City Hall, which lost its second straight match, remained in fourth place with 7 W, 1 D, 6 L, and 15 points. Samcheok goalkeeper Park Sae-young made 24 saves to become the fourth player in history to reach 1,600 saves.
Gyeongnam Development Corporation’s organization stood out. Samcheok City Hall collapsed due to mistakes. Despite goalkeeper Park Sae-young making 24 saves, Samcheok City Hall made too many mistakes.
The first half started with Samcheok City Hall in control, but as time passed, Gyeongnam Development Corporation caught up. Samcheok City Hall went up 4-1. Gyeongnam Development Corporation’s offense didn’t work as they only scored one goal in 10 minutes. A goal by Gyeongnam Development Corporation’s fixer Lee Yeon-kyung brought the score to 5-2, but Samcheok City Hall quickly pushed forward with a fast offense to make it 7-3. In the first half, it was not easy to score due to the saves of the goalkeepers of both teams. Samcheok City Hall took a slight lead, but mistakes allowed Gyeongnam Development Corporation to score three goals in a row to tie the score at 11-11 and end the first half.
At the beginning of the second half, Samcheok City Hall made a mistake and Gyeongnam Development Corporation scored back-to-back goals to go up 18-13. Samcheok City Hall, which became urgent, made a lot of mistakes and scored only two goals in 13 minutes. Samcheok City Hall regained the momentum with back-to-back goals to pull within 19-16, but the flow was interrupted when Kim So-yeon was sent off for two minutes for a shift violation.
However, Gyeongnam Development Corporation, which overcame the crisis with a decisive 7-meter drive to the basket, widened the gap to four points, 24-20. Gyeongnam Development Corporation ended the game with a four-point lead.
“Samcheok City Hall’s defense and organization were good, so we were worried and prepared a lot, but the players played well and won,” said Kim Hyun-chang, head coach of Gyeongnam Development Corporation.
In the men’s game of the day, Hanam City Hall defeated SK Hawks 25-24 to move into fourth place with a record of 8 wins, 2 draws, and 6 losses and 18 points. They are just four points behind second-place SK Hawks. The SK Hawks, who were looking for back-to-back wins, remained in second place with 10 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses and 22 points, but trailed third-place Incheon Urban Corporation by one point. For Hanam City, Shin Jae-seop was named the game’s MVP with eight goals and three assists. Park Kwang-soon added five goals and four assists, while goalkeeper Park Jae-yong made 12 saves in the win.