After South Korea punched its ticket to the women's handball final at the Asian Games in China on Tuesday, head coach Henrik Signell called for a complete effort from his players against their next opponent, Japan.
Signell thought he got just that in Thursday's gold medal match, but South Korea still lost to Japan 29-19.
"We did our best but today, it was not enough," said Signell, a Sweden native who took over the South Korean team in April this year. "We didn't perform as good as we know we can."
Signell also gave credit where it was due.
"Overall, Japan was much better over the whole court, I think," the coach said. "Of course, I'm sorry for all the fans also, but I'm also sorry for the players. And I know they are working hard every day."
Signell also lamented "a lot of open chances" that South Korea missed.
"Their goalkeeper (Atsuko Baba) had a really good day," the coach said of the player who topped 17 of 31 shots. "And to miss so many chances, it made us worried and lose confidence. If we created some stress (on Japan), we shot too fast and hard, and that's not the way to score."
Source: Yonhap News Agency