The hegemony was broken in Jinggangshan. China completed a capable performance on home soil and won the trophy in the Asian Women’s Youth Handball Championship, ahead of Japan and South Korea.
In ten previous editions, South Korea topped the podium on eight occasions and Japan was the reigning champions (the 2022 edition was affected by the covid-19 pandemic).
China had a smooth ride in the group stage while Japan distanced 29–25 in the other group final.
For the semifinals, Japan could cruise with 39–24 versus Kazakhstan but China proved its worth by holding on to a lead after 15 minutes to the end, 28–26 over South Korea.
South Korea clinched bronze with a convincing 30–21 outcome against Kazakhstan. In the final China got the better start but Japan pushed hard towards the end. Japan tied with two minutes to go but China had good response with two back court goals (Yixuan Liu and Yahan Cheng) plus a vital save (Xiaoyan Wang) to win the title.