The first of six days of action in the 2024 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships gets underway at the 'Pingtan International Beach Sports Base' on Pingtan Island, People's Republic of China, with 16 games featuring all 32 teams punctuated by the official Opening Ceremony at 1830hrs (local time).

Clash of debutants opens men’s first day

Greece 2022 men’s champions Croatia open their campaign against Portugal at 1500hrs, with Argentina and Puerto Rico also throwing off at the same time.

Germany make a welcome return to men’s world championship action for the first time since 2006, when they line-up against the tough Uruguay (1640) side.

Men’s debutants, and host nation, People’s Republic of China close the men’s competition opening day when they face African champions Tunisia on the central court at 1730hrs in a match which is likely to be a winner-takes-all clash in a Preliminary Group which also features Brazil and Spain – remember, only the top three move into the main round.

The Brazil vs Spain clash will be played at the same time as Qatar vs USA (1640), preceded by Denmark vs Australia at 1550hrs, the same time that European champions Hungary start their campaign, against Oman.

Previous two women’s world champions clash in afternoon opener

At 1500hrs the 20th edition of the IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship will throw-off and what a cracker it will be as the previous two IHF Women’s Beach Handball Championship gold medallists – reigning title-holders and Greece 2022 champions, Germany and Russia 2018 champions, Greece – do battle. The question on everyone’s lips will be – who can stop Germany? At Greece 2022, Alexander Novakovic’s side were unbeaten.

At the same time, Puerto Rico make their championship debut, and what an introduction it will be – they will face the historically-most successful side in competition history, and 2006, 2012 and 2014 champions, Brazil.

For the Puerto Ricans, it represents the first time ever that both their men’s and women’s national teams are together at an IHF World Championship.

“It’s a dream,” said Abdiel Acevedo, part of the Beach Handball Commission of Puerto Rico and in Pingtan as head coach of the men’s team, to ihf.info.

“For the women, they’re starting their dream – they’re seeing their country in the most important event of Beach Handball in the world and will demonstrate the calibre and level of the team here. It will also show the people of our island that the level of our handball is at the top.”

Current ANOC World Beach Games and European Games champions Denmark, who finished fifth at the 2022 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championships in Greece, will take on 2022 bronze medallists Netherlands, who beat the Danes on their way to the podium in Greece (quarter-final 2-1). Netherlands won silver at the 2023 European Championships in Portugal last year but lost to Denmark in the early group stages.

At 1640, the Philippines, also making their debut at this level, take on Portugal, who finished fourth at the European Championship last year.

For Philippines head coach Joanna Franquelli – who also oversees the men’s team and Beach Handball in general in the country – it will be a special moment.

“We started our programme 12 years ago and our very first international competition was in China at the Asian Beach Games in Haiyang. We started from zero,” said Franquelli to ihf.info on the eve of the event.

“So, after 12 years to be back here again on this stage means so much to our country and to us, our small community.

“I'm proud of the girls, I'm proud of everyone who helped bring us here, starting from nothing to the world championships. I hope I can hold back tears when we line up tomorrow, but we can be very, very proud that we're here and I hope we show them what we have. I can see they're excited but at the same time, it’s a mix of emotions.

“They came prepared for this so I just made them feel the atmosphere and I can see they're ready. We played the Netherlands in a friendly today and it was good for our players. They got the feel of the court, a feel of the sand, a feel of the ball and we’ll do some more adjustment when the game comes.

“Bringing the world championship to Asia is good for the continent,” she added. “As China are hosting, we now have three teams here (Vietnam are the third), compared to if it was being held in another continent. This means there's more representation for Asia and one more team experiencing a world championship.”

Norway take on the USA, host nation China face Oceania champions Australia in their first game, on the central court at 1950hrs, while Spain goes up against Vietnam. The opening day will eds with the late clash between Argentina and Croatia.

All games will be streamed live on the IHF Competitions YouTube channel (geo-restrictions will apply) click HERE for more information.

Match schedule – Tuesday 18 June 2024

Preliminary Group – all times local

Men’s Competition
1500 ARG vs PUR, CRO vs POR
1550 DEN vs AUS, HUN vs OMA
1640 BRA vs ESP, QAT vs USA, GER vs URU
1730 CHN vs TUN

Women’s Competition
1500 GER vs GRE, BRA vs PUR
1550 NED vs DEN, NOR vs USA
1640 POR vs PHI
1950 CHN vs AUS, ESP vs VIE
2040 ARG vs CRO