Asian Women’s Championships (Final Results)

The Asian Women’s Championships are over and as expected South Korea took the title with a 35-23 victory over China. In the 3rd place game Japan easily beat host Thailand 39-16. In the 5th place game Kazakhstan secured the last Asian ticket to the 2009 World Championships with a 43-18 victory over Vietnam.

Now that the tournament is over the big question will be whether any of the teams can go home. Protestors have shut down the two major commerial airports near Bankok for several days stranding thousands of tourists. Various news reports indicate that countries are sending official airplanes to undisclosed airports to bring home stranded travelers, so this could be the route some of the teams are taking.

Final Ranking
1) South Korea (Qualify for WC 2009)
2) China (WC 2009 Host)
3) Japan (Qualify for WC 2009)
4) Thailand (Qualify for WC 2009)
5) Kazakhstan (Qualify for WC 2009)
6) Vietnam
7) Iran
8 ) India
9) Uzbekistan
10) Qatar

An interesting side note is the participation of the Iranian women in the tournament. Having previously read news accounts of Iranian women protesting for simply the right to attend soccer matches as spectators I was surprised to see them participating as athletes in a tournament. Apparently, one of the conditions of participation is for the team to be fully garbed from head to toe. Note this picture from an Iranian website:
http://www.payvand.com/news/08/nov/1263.html of the Iranian team practicing. Additional note: Qatar also wears similar uniforms

Complete Tournament Results in extended post

11/21 (Fri)
A South Korea 57 – 26 Uzbekistan (31-10)
A Kazakhstan 41 – 18 Iran (21- 5)
B Thailand 34 – 23 Qatar (17- 8)
B China 42 – 12 India (21- 5)

11/22 (Sat)
A Japan 47 – 14 Uzbekistan (21- 3)
A Korea 32 – 29 Kazakhstan
B China 38 – 14 Qatar
B Vietnam 29 – 27 India

11/23 (Sun)
A Japan 42 – 20 Iran (21- 8)
B Thailand 29 – 20 Vietnam

Mon. 24-11
B IND X QAT 18-13 37-23
A KAZ X UZB 19-04 42-12
A KOR X IRI 22-07 48-15
B CHN X VIE 26-10 54-19

Tue.25-11
A JPN X KAZ 15-09 31-23
B THA X IND 22-13 42-32

Wed.26-11
A UZB X IRI 12-17 26-29
A KOR X JPN 22-11 39-27
B CHN X THA 19-11 35-16
B QAT X VIE 07-20 22-38

Group A Final Standings
1) South Korea (4-0-0) 8 Pts 176 97 +79
2) Japan (3-0-1) 6 Pts 147 96 +51
3) Kazakhstan (2-0-2) 4 Pts 135 93 +42
4) Iran (1-0-3) 2 Pts 82 157 -75
5) Uzbekistan (0-0-4) 78 175 -97

Group B Final Standings
1) China (4-0-0) 8 Pts 169 61 +108
2) Thailand (3-0-1) 6 Pts 121 110 +11
3) Vietnam (2-0-2) 4 Pts 106 132 -26
4) India (1-0-3) 2 Pts 39 108 136 -28
5) Qatar (0-0-4) 0 Pts 82 147 -65

11/28 (Fri)
Korea 38 – 17 Thailand
China 29 – 28 Japan (12-14)

11/29 (Sat)
9th Place Uzbekistan 10 – Qatar Qatar forfeit
7th Place Iran 34 – 30 India
5th Place Kazakhstan 43 – 18 Vietnam

11/30 (Sun)
1st Place Korea 35 – 23 China
3rd Place Japan 39 – 16 Thailand

Sources:
Asian Handball Federation: http://www.asianhandball.com/menu/Chapmionships/drawwomenthai.htm
Japanese Handball Federation: http://www.handball.jp/games/2008/12_asia_w/results.html#1130