FORMER Soviet state Kazakhstan made their long-awaited debut in the Hongkong International Invitation tournament and put up a strong fight before losing to South Korea's Jin Ju Ham team 32-26 in an action-packed women's game.
Jin Ju Ham, winners of the South Korean winter league, are favourites for the Hongkong title as their national squad are the world champions and also the 1992 Olympic Games gold medallists.
They have three national squad players - Han Sun-hee, Kim Mi-sim and Lee Sang-eun - and two junior internationals in their line-up. Han was a member of the Barcelona Olympic team.
Kong Seung-mi took little time to open the Koreans' scoring account but Kazakhstan goalkeeper Aksenova made several brilliant saves, including stopping a penalty by Han, before Buzmakova levelled the tally in the fourth minute.
The two teams were never separated by more than three points in the first half during which the scores were levelled seven times, and the two sides were locked at 15-15 at half-time.
But the more balanced South Korean outfit pulled away from 18-all six minutes into the second half with goals by Shim Myoung-ho and stalwarts Lee and Kim and never looked back, pulling away to win by a six-point margin.
Lee was Jin Ju Ham's top scorer with eight points while national squad teammate Kim scored six. But highest scorer in the match was the towering 1.8-metre tall Buzmakova, who scored nine goals for Kazakhstan.