History for Chinese men who aim to showcase the sport to future generations

When China take to the sand on Thursday 7 August to play Tunisia, they will be making history as the first men’s team to represent their country in beach handball at The World Games.

As hosts, they also know they will have numerous friends and family watching in person and online plus, most importantly perhaps, a young generation of homegrown athletes also watching on, ready to discover the sport and be captivated.

While all of that is very much in the mind of head coach Zhu Wenxin and his players, wins are the goal and that opening clash against Tunisia represents the best chance on paper of getting a preliminary group victory, with Spain then Denmark completing their first round of matches.

Wenxin oversaw China’s last appearance at a global tournament on home sand – guiding his side to a 12th place finish at the 2024 IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship, held in Pingtan 12 months ago.

That in itself was remarkable for the Chinese men – it was their debut at that event too and they met two of their Chengdu 2025 preliminary group opponents in the same round a year ago, again opening with a match against Tunisia, that time losing 1-2 (18:16, 22:24, SO 6:7) in a tight encounter after taking the first set. They then faced Spain in their second game – just like they will at Chengdu 2025 – and were outclassed, losing 0-2 (7:22, 12:21) clearly. They wrapped up the first stage with an expected loss against Brazil 0-2 (10:25, 10:30).

This saw them move into the consolation round, where defeats against Uruguay (1-2) and Puerto Rico (0-2) followed, but a comfortable 2-0 (21:10, 18:14) win over Australia galvanised the team and home support behind them. They followed it up with a 2-0 (19:18, 24:22) win over the impressive USA, before losing again to the experienced Uruguayans in the 9-12 placement round (0-2, 20:26, 20:26).

This set up another game against Tunisia for 11th, but this time the Africans exerted their experience and authority, taking a 2-0 (15:14, 26:20) victory, although they were made to work in the first set.

It will be interesting to see how Wenxin sets up his team for their Tunisia clash – a group that, as hosts, China chose to be in.

45-year-old Heilongjiang province native Wenxin is a former national indoor men’s player and was brought in following a disappointing continental ranking in 2023. He is no stranger to playing on a global stage, with one of his career highlights representing his nation on home soil at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

China’s men did not participate in the recent Asian championships, held last May in Muscat, Oman, so their last official competition was that home world championship.

Coach: Zhu Wenxin
Key players: Gao Guozheng (Right Back), Xiang Xu (Pivot), Mao Raoxiang (Centre Back)
Qualification information: Hosts
History in tournament: 2001-2022: DNQ
Group at The World Games Chengdu 2025: Group B – Tunisia, Spain, Denmark, People’s Republic of China