Asian Women’s Handball Championship:
Iran aiming for history against Kazakhstan
A historic bronze medal will be on the line for the Iranian girls when they take on Kazakhstan at the Asian Women’s Handball Championship in New Delhi, India, today.
Nashmin Shafeian’s made it to a third successive semifinal in the competition to secure a place in next year’s World Championship in Germany and the Netherlands, before suffering a 33-20 defeat against 16-time champion South Korea at the Indira Gandhi Arena on Sunday.
Iranian captain Mina Vatanparast still claimed the Player-of-the-Match prize by the end of the contest, while Zahra Faqihi topped the scoring chart for the country with five goals.
South Korean left-wing Seo Aru chipped in a game-high eight goals, with Lee Yeong-yeong and Jung Ji-in adding four apiece.
Two-time Asian champion Kazakhstan, meanwhile, fell to a 30-23 loss to Japan later on Sunday.
Today’s encounter will be a repeat of the third-place matchup in 2021 in Amman, where Kazakhstan defeated Iran 38-33.
Beaten by China for the bronze in the previous edition, Iran got off to a losing start in this year’s event – a 34-14 defeat against Japan – but bounced back to beat the host 32-30 and then walked away with a 26-17 victory over Hong Kong to finish runner-up to the Japanese in Group B.