The Korean men’s handball team successfully defended its Asian Championship title after a trilling 23-22 victory over Qatar in the final on Sunday.

It was the team’s third consecutive title, and ninth overall in the championship.

With Sunday’s victory, Korea has also secured an automatic berth for the 2013 World Championship in Spain.

At the 15th Asian Men’s Handball Championship held in Saudi Arabia, Korea advanced to the finals after beating the home side 27-26 in the semifinals.

In the finals, Korea had a sluggish start while Qatar finished the first half with a 11-10 lead.

Korea took back the lead after the break, and was leading 16-14 halfway to the final whistle. Qatar, however, did not give up, and trailed 21-20. But thanks to veteran left-attacker Yoon Kyung-shin’s long-range goal, Korea managed to defend its title. “I’d like to praise our players for their hard work. We played four hard games in a row, but we never gave up,” said Korean manager Choi Suk-jae.

Choi added that winning the Asian title was a big boost ahead of the team’s preparation for London. “We’ll now focus on preparing for the London Olympics,” he added.

By Oh Kyu-wook (596story@heraldcorp.com)