TOKYO, Jan 30 (KUNA) — South Korea defeated Japan here Wednesday 28-25 in a controversial replay of the men’s handball qualifying tournament of August’s Olympics in Beijing. The men have qualified for their third straight Olympics, joining the South Korean women’s squad that also beat Japan on the day before in an Asian qualifier. Japan will next play in the world final qualifiers in May.
The two-day replays of Asian Olympic qualifiers were held under the authority of the International Handball Federation (IHF), which ordered replays in December. Only Japan and South Korea took part in the replays. At the men’s original qualifier held in the Japanese city of Toyota in September, Japan, South Korea, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates participated. The IHF confirmed on Sunday that the winners of the replays between Japan and South Korea will secure their places in the Beijing Olympics. After the qualifiers last year, Japan and South Korea accused Middle Eastern referees of bias toward Kuwait and Kazakhstan, who won Olympic berths in the men’s and women’s handball, respectively. But the Kuwait-based Asian Handball Federation (AHF) said the the results are valid and rejected a call from the IHF to replay the qualifiers for both men and women, adding that it will take punitive action against Japan and South Korea for holding the replays.