Doosan draws with Hanam City Hall 25-25…fails to clinch top spot

Doosan’s bid to clinch the top spot in the regular season has been pushed back to the next game as they drew with Hanam City Hall.

Doosan and Hanam City Hall drew 25-25 in the third game of the fifth round of the Shinhan SOL Pay 23-24 Handball H League Men’s Division on Wednesday at Light Goeul Gymnasium in Seo-gu, Gwangju.

Doosan, with 16 wins, three draws and four losses and 35 points, fell one point short of the top spot in the regular season. In the battle for third place, Hanam City Hall escaped a second straight defeat to remain in third place with 12 wins, three draws and eight losses and 27 points, two points behind fourth-place Incheon City Corporation.

It was a tightly contested game as it was an important match for both teams. In the second half, Doosan took a five-point lead and seemed to have the game won, but Hanam City Hall fought back to tie the game.

Goals didn’t come easily in the first half as both defenses intensively marked each other’s aces. In particular, Doosan was forced to make saves from goalkeeper Park Jae-yong. Goals were not easy to come by for Doosan as their second-leading scorer, Kim Yeon-bin, was on the bench due to injury. Kangsoo attacked with seven players minus the goalkeeper from the start.

Hanam City also struggled to find the back of the net as Shin Jae-seop and Park Kwang-soon were blocked. Hanam City also struggled with goalkeeper Kim Dong-wook’s saves, but Kim Ji-hoon’s good move made it 4-2.

Goals from Doosan’s Jung Jeong-kyung and Hanam City’s Shin Jae-seop tied the game at 6-6 after 20 minutes. After that, the teams exchanged one-goal goals to make it a close contest. Following a save by goalkeeper Park Jae-yong, Hanam City Hall ended the first half with a 13-12 lead.

At the beginning of the second half, Doosan blocked Hanam City Hall’s attacks with its forward defense and scored five goals in a row to take a 20-15 lead after a save by goalkeeper Kim Dong-wook.

After a mistake led to a goal, Hanam City Hall turned the tide with a save from goalkeeper Lee Dong-myung, and then scored five goals in a row, including goals from Shin Jae-seop and Park Kwang-soon, to take a 22-21 lead.

The two teams exchanged goals again and the game was tense. Hanam City took a 25-24 lead with a successful 7-meter drive 스포츠토토 with just over a minute left, but a mid-range shot by Kang Jeon-gu with 30 seconds left tied the game at 25-25.

Doosan led the offense with eight goals from Kang Jeon-gu and four goals each from Jung Jeong-kyung and Cho Tae-hoon, while Kim Dong-wook made 10 saves in goal.

Hanam City led the offense with six goals from Park Kwang-soon and five from Shin Jae-seop, while Park Jae-yong made 10 saves in goal.

Doosan’s Kang Jeon-gu, who scored the most goals for both teams, was named the MVP of the match. “It was a game to clinch first place, so we did our best, but it wasn’t easy as Hanam City Hall was also an important game and kept up with us until the end,” said Kang Jeon-goo, reflecting on the match. “I think we will have a good result if we stay united and focused for the remaining games.”