Coming up: Stacked calendar in handball throughout June
31 May. 2023
June will be an action-packed month, with plenty of handball on display, both at club and at the national teams level.
The highlight will be the 24th edition of the IHF Men's Junior World Championship, the first one with 32 teams at the start and also the first to take place since 2019, after the one in 2021 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The competition will be played between 20 June and 2 July in Germany and Greece, with Magdeburg, Hanover and Athens hosting the competition until the quarter-finals, with the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin taking over in the quarter-finals.
France are the reigning champions in the competition after securing the title in the final against Croatia four years ago in Vigo, Spain.
A ticket to the 2023 IHF Women's World Championship will be awarded in June, after the 2023 Nor.Ca. Women's Handball Championship, which is scheduled in Nuuk, Greenland, between 5 and 11 June.
Five teams – Canada, Cuba, Greenland, Mexico and the United States of America – will take part in the competition, with the winner sealing safe passage to Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023.
The South American Zone women's youth and junior IHF Trophy South and Central America tournaments will be held in Lima, Peru, from 6 to 10 June 2023. Six teams – hosts Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyane and Venezuela – will take part in the two tournaments.
At the club level, the EHF FINAL4 will be the season's highlight in European handball, both in the men's and women's competitions. The first tournament will take place in Budapest, on 3 and 4 June, with Vipers Kristiansand, Györi Audi ETO KC, Team Esbjerg and FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria fighting for the trophy in the women's competition.
The Men's EHF FINAL4 is scheduled for 17-18 June in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, with PSG Handball, Barlinek Industria Kielce, Barcelona and SC Magdeburg vying for the trophy won by Barca over the past two seasons.
Club handball is also in full fledge on other continents, with crucial clashes, which will decide some IHF Men's Super Globe tickets, scheduled for the month of June.
In South America, the Men's SCA Handball Clubes 2023 started on 29 May and will end on 3 June, with the winner getting a Super Globe ticket, while in Asia, the 25th Asian Men's Club League Handball Championship takes place in Isfahan, Islamic Republic of Iran, from 1 to 11 June 2023, with 11 teams at the start. The winner will earn safe passage to the IHF Men's Super Globe 2023.
In beach handball, the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour – Stage 2 will take place between 20 and 22 June in Hammamet (TUN), featuring four men's and four women's teams.
The second part of the IHF Education Weeks will take place between 10 and 16 June, with leading specialists taking charge of 12 presentations. The topics covered will be related to coaching and refereeing matters of indoor handball.
Photos: IHF / in courtesy of DHB