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Men's soccer begins first round of qualifiers in Changwon in September men's and women's basketball already eliminated

Women's handball advances to 11th consecutive Olympic Games with win over Japan

Members of the Korean women's handball team celebrate after qualifying for the Olympic Games for the 11th consecutive time with a 25-24 victory over Japan in the final match of the Asian qualifying tournament for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Maeda Housing Donggu Sports Center in Hiroshima, Japan, on Aug. 23.

South Korea's women's handball team became the first team ball game to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after the Asian Qualification on Wednesday in Hiroshima, Japan.

With a 25-24 victory over hosts Japan, the Korean women's handball team topped the standings with a four-game sweep and qualified for their 11th consecutive Olympic Games, dating back to Los Angeles in 1984.

The Korean women's team has qualified for 11 consecutive Olympic Games in Olympic handball.

In addition to handball, water polo, basketball, hockey, soccer, handball, rugby, and volleyball will be among the eight team ball sports at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Women's handball has kicked off the Olympic Games with a bang, but other sports are still in the midst of qualifying tournaments to secure their spots before the Games begin.

Of the eight team sports, however, basketball has already failed to qualify for the Olympic Games.

The women's national team finished fifth at the FIBA Asia Cup in Australia last month, missing out on the final qualifying spot of fourth place.

The men's team's chances of qualifying for the Olympic Games were also dashed when they were forced to withdraw from the pre-qualifying tournament for the Paris Olympics in Syria on Dec. 12 for safety reasons.

Head coach Hwang Sun-hong holds a press conference

Hwang Sun-hong, head coach of the Hangzhou Asian Games men's football team, holds a press conference before the team's training session at the National Team Training Center (NFC) in Paju, Gyeonggi-do, on Friday afternoon.

While baseball and softball will not be competing at the Paris Olympics, the popular sport of soccer will begin its journey to the Olympic Games in earnest in September for the men's team.

Beginning Sept. 6 in Changwon, Gyeongnam, South Korea will play Qatar, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar in Group B of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers, with a top finish earning a spot at the tournament, which kicks off in Qatar in April 2024.

A top-three finish at the tournament would earn a spot at the Olympic Games for the 10th consecutive time. The fourth-place finisher will face the fourth-place African team in a playoff for the final ticket.

Women's soccer, looking to qualify for its first ever Olympic Games, will need to finish in the top two at the Asian qualifiers in February 2024.

Women's volleyball team celebrates

South Korean players celebrate after scoring a point during the FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2023 (VNL) match between South Korea and China at Seosuwon Chilbo Gymnasium in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on July 1.

Women's volleyball, which wrote the "myth of the big four" in London 2012 and Tokyo 2021, will have to finish second or better at the world qualifier in Poland in September against Poland, Italy, the United States, Germany, Thailand, and others to qualify for the Olympic Games.

If they don't finish in the top two, they will have to improve their world ranking between the Asian Championships this year and the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) in 2024 to qualify.

Men's volleyball is currently ranked 27th in the world and will need to climb into the top 10 to qualify.

Both men's and women's hockey will qualify for the Olympics by winning the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September.

South Korean men's and women's hockey, which both failed to qualify for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, will compete in the final qualifying round against other continental nations if they do not win the Asian Games.

Men's handball will compete in the Asian Regional Qualifier in Doha, Qatar, in October, with a win earning a spot in the Olympic Games and a runner-up finish earning a spot in the final qualifier.

Like hockey, water polo requires a win at the Hangzhou Asian Games to qualify for the Olympic Games.

Rugby will hold its Asian qualifiers in Japan in November.

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