Korea pounds Brazil in women's handball to join last four

Brazil fell short of climbing the wall of Korea by 16.1 percent, not 2 percent.

In the Pavilion Dome in the Sydney Olympic Park Thursday, the Korean women's handball team trounced its Brazilian counterpart 35-24 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals.

With its semifinal berth, Korea is on the verge of advancing to the gold medal match for an unprecedented fifth consecutive time in the history of Olympic handball.

Korea garnered a comfortable victory over Brazil as expected. The win was engineered by goalie and captain Oh Young-Ran and Lee Nam-Soo, who blocked 16 or 40 percent of Brazil's total 40 shots.

In contrast, Brazilian goalkeeper Chena Mason managed to clear only 11 or 23.9 percent of the total 46 Korean shots.

Korea made only six more shots than Brazil, but the goalkeepers' ability apparently determined the result of the match.

Korea won the silver medal in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and was the champion in the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Olympics. In Atlanta in 1996, Korea finished with the silver medal. Korea will play the winner of the France-Denmark match Friday with the ticket to the gold medal match at stake.