India go down fighting against Japan, miss semis berth

New Delhi, Dec 6: India struck 15 goals against Japan but that proved insufficient as the former champions won 48-15 to advance to the semi-finals of the Asian Women’s Handball Championship here on Thursday.

India will now face Singapore in the 5-8th place classification on Sunday, with the winners to play either China or Hong Kong to determine their final standings.

In the semifinals, South Korea will face Iran, while Kazakhstan play Japan on Sunday.

Maninder Kaur scored India's first goal after a battling start, while goalkeeper Nina Shil carried her form over from the previous match to thwart Japan’s early attacks.

As the game progressed, India moved the ball from side to side, attempting to fashion an opening through the sturdy Japan defence, but the heavyweights were too strong and quickly built a considerable lead over the hosts.

Sushma also scored a long-range goal and moments later, Bhawana Sharma intercepted a Japanese attack, ran through on goal and finished with aplomb.

Just before the interval, Bhawana scored another superb solo goal, while captain Diksha charged the crowd up with a brilliant save from her leg.

Earlier in the day, Kazakhstan secured a thumping 38-7 win over Singapore but their passage to the last-four round was confirmed in the evening when South Korea overcame China in a battle of the heavyweights.

Led by a Player-of-the-Match display by Lee Yeongyeong, the reigning champions beat China 25-14 to continue their winning run.