South Korea lost to Slovenia 30-23 in its second match of the women’s handball tournament at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, as its hopes of reaching the knockout phase took a hit.
Unable to build on the momentum after rallying past Germany 23-22 in its opening match Thursday, South Korea is now in fourth place in Group A with two points, with daunting matches against Norway, Sweden and Denmark on the horizon.
The top four teams after round-robin action will advance to the quarterfinals, and South Korea will have to pick up a few points against the three teams that finished second, third and fourth at last year’s world championships.
South Korea was down 14-12 at halftime at South Paris Arena 6 and then gave up seven unanswered goals to go down by nine goals just eight minutes into the second half.
South Korea cut it to 22-17 on four straight goals before Slovenia pulled away en route to a comfortable victory.
Woo Bitna led South Korea with seven goals.
South Korea will next face Norway on Tuesday.
Sou
rce: Yonhap News Agency