Jiangsu defeated defending champion Anhui 30-26 in the women's handball final of the 13th Chinese National Games on Thursday, thus sweeping both men's and women's titles in the sport.
A penalty shoot by Du Jijuan opened the match for Anhui. As both teams played solid defense and tied nine times before the halftime. Zhao Jiaqin scored her goal with 14 seconds left, helped Jiangsu tie Anhui at 12-all in the first half.
Due to their elder ages, the experienced players of Anhui were exploited in the second half, and Jiangsu took a 4-1 scoring spree to enlarge its lead to three in the middle of the second half.
After Liu Xiaomei cut the gap to two for Anhui, it turned out to be the closest Anhui could manage for.
Both Lan Xiaoling and Li Weiwei scored a team-high six points while Anhui's veteran Shen Ping finished with a match-high 11.
"It was a very close game," said Kim Gap-Soo, Jiangsu's coach. "We all know Anhui players are very experienced veterans, but their ages also become their weakness. We played our tough defense to hinder their offense. And we also took advantage of their elder ages."
To many Anhui players, the final could be the last match of their career as they will retire after the National Games.
"We felt sad after the final," said Anhui coach Wu Lijun, "so many years of hard working came to an end just after this match. They were too eager to win the title and put too much pressure upon themselves."
