HANGZHOU - China fell short of reaching the women's handball final at the Hangzhou Asian Games following a 30-23 defeat to defending champion South Korea here on Tuesday.

South Korea seized the initiative and led with a four-point advantage through fast breaks. However, a resilient Chinese team managed to pull back, narrowing the gap to one point at halftime. Yet, China faltered in the second half, going nearly 10 minutes without scoring en route to the loss.

Jin Mengqing of China tied with Ryu Eun-hee of South Korea for the game-high seven goals, closely followed by Lee Mi-gyeong with six.

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A resilient Chinese team managed to pull back, narrowing the gap to one point at halftime. Yet, China faltered in the second half, going nearly 10 minutes without scoring en route to the loss

Zheng Yongli, the head coach of China, explained at the post-game press briefing that "We performed well in the first half but failed to deliver in the second half as the players began to burn out. The lack of international experience among our players contributed to the loss."

South Korea's head coach, Kurt Henrik Signells, praised China's performance, saying "I haven't seen China play a match like that. They really impressed and have improved a lot. We knew before the game that it would be a tough one." He expressed satisfaction with the second half and the overall game, anticipating the challenging nature of the match.

In the other women's semifinal, Japan, the bronze medalist at Jakarta 2018, easily defeated Kazakhstan 40-22 and will face South Korea in the final on Thursday when China and Kazakhstan will compete for the bronze.

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On the men's side, Bahrain survived a late scare to beat Japan 30-28, and will face defending champion Qatar in a rematch of the final from the last Asiad.