SK Sugar Gliders defeat Samcheok City Hall to win the inaugural H League title.
The SK Sugar Gliders defeated Samcheok City Hall 33-24 in the second game of the H-League Women’s Championship at the Shinhan SOL Pay 23-24 Handball H-League on Monday at SK Handball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul.
The SK Sugar Gliders won the first game 34-26 on Nov. 27 and followed it up with a victory in the second game to become the inaugural H-League Women’s champions.
The SK Sugar Gliders won their first Korean League title in four years, and their first overall title in six years after winning the 2017 title.
The SK Sugar Gliders scored early in the first half to take a 7-3 lead with goals from multiple players. Samcheok City Government tried to make a comeback, but goalkeeper Park Sae-young made a save and SK Sugar Gliders had two ejections in a two-minute span.
However, the SK Sugar Gliders came back to take a four-point lead, 13-9. The first half ended with SK Sugar Gliders leading 15-10.
SK Sugar Gliders’ momentum continued in the second half. They scored three goals in a row to take an 18-10 lead at the start of the second half. Samcheok City Hall tried to turn the tide by introducing Kim On-ah. Kim broke through and scored Samcheok City Hall’s first goal of the second half to cut the deficit to three goals, 18-13.
From there, SK Sugar Gliders gradually increased the score difference and slowly gained the upper hand. After holding off Samcheok City Hall’s late rally, SK Sugar Gliders finished the game with a 33-24 victory and were crowned champions.
SK Sugar Gliders’ Yoo So-jung led the offense with nine goals and five assists, Kim Ha-kyung scored six goals, and goalkeeper Lee Min-ji made 10 saves. Yoo was named MVP of the match.
For Samcheok City Hall, Kim Sun-hwa scored five goals, Kim On-ah, Kim Ji-ah, and Jeon Jeon-yeon each scored four goals, and Park Sae-young made 18 saves in goal.
SK Sugar Gliders head coach Kim Kyung-jin, who won the overall title, said: “It feels good to finish on a high note after a lot of hard work. In the middle of the game, our players got excited and caught 안전놀이터 up, but I believed we could overcome it. I think we overcame the crisis and showed what we have in the second half to win the championship.”
“It feels great to be the first MVP in the postseason, and it’s even better to win the MVP after winning the title. We showed everything we have to offer,” said Yoo So-jung, who was named MVP.
Kang Kyung-min also said, “I heard a lot of people say that the team would win the championship after I transferred, but of course it didn’t happen, so I worked hard with the players every game, and I’m proud and happy that the result was good.”