Dear Handball Friends in the Czech Republic and all over the world, The 24 best women’s junior teams from all over the world will compete for the medals from 1 to 14 July in the cities of Brno and Ostrava in the Czech Republic. This tournament will light the flame of handball even brighter in a country with a long handball tradition. The major international success dates back for decades, as former Czechoslovakia is one of those few nations winning World Championship titles with men’s (1967) and women’s teams (1957 at the first ever Women’s WCh). The importance of this tournament is not only shown in results and medals, but it will give a huge hint to the next handball generation, which will mark the women’s tournaments in the upcoming years. I wish all participating teams the very best of luck for the tournament and a good time ahead. And I hope that handball will attract the public interest and audience the young players have worked hard for in the last years. Dr Hassan Moustafa