Japan knocks Kuwait out of the Asian Games handball medal race

An injured Kuwait player receives assistance from officials during the match against Japan.

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 26: Kuwait’s national handball team suffered a 37-32 defeat to Japan in the Asian Games quarterfinals in Nagoya, ending its hopes of competing for a medal.

Kuwait will now play China in the classification round for fifth to eighth place. Qatar defeated Iran 31-25, while South Korea beat China 32-26 in the other quarterfinal matches.

Kuwait struggled from the start, committing several attacking errors that Japan quickly punished on the counterattack. The host raced into a 9-3 lead after 15 minutes and maintained their advantage for most of the game.

Japan also exposed Kuwait’s slow transition from attack to defense, scoring 11 fast-break goals compared with four for Kuwait. The Japanese defense effectively neutralized Kuwait’s wings by adopting a 6-0 formation and closing down the spaces around the team’s main attacking outlets.

Kuwait mounted a late comeback and cut the deficit to three goals at 35-32, but Japan held firm in the closing stages to secure the five-goal victory.

By Khaled Al-Enezi

Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff