For this seventh edition of International Handball Week, ihf.info hears from individuals across the six IHF continental federations involved with multiple disciplines of the sport, including beach, indoor and wheelchair.

For this feature, we head to Asia (AHF) and analyse the rise of handball in the People's Republic of China

Since 2024, only one non-European team has broken into the top 16 - the main round - at both the IHF Women's Junior World Championship and the IHF Women's Youth World Championship. That team is the People's Republic of China.

It's no fluke. China's junior handball program has been on a steady upward trajectory in recent years, and the results are starting to show it.

The numbers tell the story: a 15th-place finish at the 2024 IHF Women's Youth World Championship, held on home soil, followed by 15th at the 2024 Junior Worlds and, most recently, 14th at the 2026 edition.

That 14th-place finish in Jinzhong, another home tournament, is a solid result, but also China's best showing at the Junior World Championship in over two decades, since a 10th-place finish back in 1999.

For a nation not traditionally associated with handball's European heartland, that's a milestone worth watching.

But this is only part of the story, as the People’s Republic of China is becoming more and more relevant on the continent.

Last year, China sealed their maiden title at the Asian Women's Youth Handball Championship, securing the trophy with a 35:33 win against powerhouse Japan. And this spring, they won the inaugural AHF Asian Women’s Under-16 Handball Championship, securing a place at the 2026 IHF Women’s Under-16 World Championship.

 

“I hope what we're doing at the moment is the best way, I think. We use many young players - not only in the junior team, but also in the senior team we use many, many young players. And we also try, many times, to go to Europe for training camps,” says China junior women’s national team coach, Sándor Zsadány.

Zsadány is only the latest in a long line of coaches entrusted with steering China's development on the international stage. The formula remains consistent: proven know-how and experience, applied with care to the local context, cultivating a steady growth curve for the young players coming through China's system.

Take, for instance, the junior team which finished 15th at the 2024 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship. In that competition, China won against Czechia and Algeria to secure the place in the main round, then losing against France, Germany and Egypt before beating North Macedonia, 25:23, to take the 15th place.

That team was coached by Suzana Lazović, who then went on to become the Montenegro women’s national team coach, securing a place in the quarter-finals at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship.

“But believe me, with this new start, with a new philosophy, players are buying in and are starting to love handball. And I really believe if this team continues with good work and with these seven or eight players from this squad  in the senior team, if they can continue with good work in the next three or four years, I'm sure they can qualify for the Olympic Games,” said Lazovic back then for ihf.info.

Years have passed and China have become stronger and stronger. For the 2026 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, the Asian side was one of the youngest in the competition, with an average age of 18.1 years old. Only three players – goalkeeper Yihan Sun, centre back Jing Liang and line player Yue Yang – had turned 20 before the start of the competition.

 

“Many players on my team were born in 2009 or 2008. That means after this World Championship, they'll rest a little and then start practicing for the Youth World Championship in Romania,” added Zsadany.

In that competition, China will also eye a main round spot, aiming to continue their streak, with two teams qualifying from a group where they are due to face hosts Romania, Uruguay and Kazakhstan.

But the results are promising. At the 2026 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, the People’s Republic of China started with two wins against African sides, 33:20 against Algeria and 27:18 against Guinea, before conceding a 25:42 loss against Denmark.

In the main round, they pressured Montenegro, leading at the break, 14:13, before losing 25:31, and lost against Czechia, 29:36. A win against Austria, 25:22, after penalties, followed, before conceding a 25:35 loss against Zsadany’s home country, Hungary, in the Placement Match 13/14.

The most important thing is not the ranking, because I see during the tournament our team's performance - I think it was really good. We played a lot of close matches against high-level opponents. And I think in the last period my team progressed a lot. For me, this is the most important thing at the moment,” said Zsadany.

Another huge plus for China was the interest piqued by handball in the hosting cities. Two years ago, a new record for the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, where 5,050 spectators attended the match between the hosts and Denmark. Later, that record was broken, with 5,680 spectators attended the match between China and Norway.

 

The 2026 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship was a celebration of the growing appeal of handball in the People’s Republic of China, where the competition drew impressive crowds and left behind a clear sense of momentum for the sport’s future.

A total of 121,623 tickets were sold in Jinzhong, the host city at the heart of the competitions, as spectators turned out in large numbers to follow the action over the course of 116 matches played in four arenas. The figures reflected the strength of the championship itself, as well the growing appetite for handball in a country that has now firmly established itself as an important stage for international events.

But there are also challenges.

“The biggest challenge for me at the moment, between Europe and Asia, is the really big difference in culture. Also, handball culture is totally different. And I think the hardest thing about this job in China at the moment is not having a domestic championship - that means we don't play too many matches, and our team misses out on high-level matches. But I see, in the World Championship, when we played one by one against high-level opponents, my feeling is we got better and better and better,” says China’s junior national team coach.

Nevertheless, China are on the right path. At senior level, they featured in 19 consecutive editions of the IHF Women’s World Championship, finishing 28th and 26th in the last two instances.

With know-how continuing to flow into the system - underlined by the IHF B-Licence Coaching Course held on the fringes of the 2026 IHF Women's Junior World Championship - and handball steadily gaining popularity, the sport is on the rise in a country of nearly 1.5 billion people.