China and Iran are Asian youth champions on the sand

The third edition of the Asian Handball Federation (AHF) Men’s and Women’s Youth Asian Beach Handball Championships has completed in Thailand.

Islamic Republic of Iran and People’s Republic of China won the men’s and women’s competitions respectively at the event which took place at Sports Authority of Thailand courts in Hua Mak, Bangkok from 16 to 25 October.

Chinese women dominant, win second title in three editions

Four teams – People’s Republic of China (CHN), Thailand (THA), Indonesia (INA) and Hong Kong, China (HKG) – took part in the women’s competition which was played in a round-robin format with all teams playing each other twice, playing six games each.

The 12 games in total saw just two shoot-outs, with China dominant on their way to gold. The 2016 debut event winners opened their account with an impressive 2-0 (28:7, 22:12) victory over neighbouring Hong Kong, with Yi Pan scoring 16 points for the Chinese. 

Another 16 point-haul, this time from Jiaye Pang, secured China their second victory out of two, with a 2-0 (20:6, 20:8) win over the host nation, Thailand, followed by their third 2-0 win, against Indonesia (24:10, 20:8). Hong Kong (24:6, 24:7) and Indonesia (24:16, 18:16) were then dispatched 2-0 again, with Thailand managing to take one set off their opponents in a 1-2 (21:20, 14:19, SO 4:10) loss.

Thanks to two 2-0 victories each, against Indonesia and Hong Kong, the host nation finished second in the group to claim the one of two automatic qualification spots for the 2025 IHF Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championship to be held in Tunisia next year.

Indonesia finished in bronze position, missing out on a world championship place, but having put out an under 16 team in Bangkok, in preparation for the South East Asian (SEA) Games next year.

“Winning a bronze medal is a step towards achieving optimal achievement when the Indonesian handball team appears at the 2025 SEA Games in Thailand,” said Zulfydar Zaidar Mochtar, from the Indonesia Handball Association to local media.

The previous edition of the AHF Women’s Youth Asian Beach Handball Championship was also held in Bangkok, with just three teams taking part in the post-covid affected championship in 2022. 

Two years ago, Thailand finished top, ahead of India on points difference, with Hong Kong, China in third. All three teams qualified directly through to the 2022 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship.

The first edition of the younger-age Asian championship took place in Pattaya, Thailand in August 2016, with China taking the title, followed by Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong, China.

Iran men claim second, successive title

Seven teams – Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), Thailand (THA), Qatar (QAT), Oman (OMA), People’s Republic of China (CHN), Jordan (JOR) and Indonesia (INA) – competed in the men’s, round-robin competition, playing each other once, a total of six games each and 21 in total in the competition.

Iran won all six of their games on the way to the title – but they were made to work, starting right in their opener, against Oman. An easy first set win (16:8) for the Iranians was in contrast to a tough second, which saw Oman take a two-point victory (18:16). A tight shoot-out then followed, with Iran squeezing past 9:8 to take the win, Mohseni Pouya’s 14 points the top score in the match.
Pouya scored 14 again to top score in Iran’s second win in a row, a 2-0 (19:12, 15:8) win over Jordan, before another shoot-out win, against China, 2-1 (26:12, 14:16, SO 6:4). The fifth win, and perhaps the most crucial, was another shoot-out victory, against Qatar (22:20, 16:8, SO 9:6), coached by IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship winner Khaled Aly, also coach of the Qatar men’s senior team. Iran could be thankful for the 17 points that Azizi Safargholi Mobin scored. They then sealed the title with a 2-0 victory over the hosts (24:16, 28:18), with Pouya again top-scoring, on 18 points.

While the host nation finished four points behind Iran in the table (8 points), to take the second of three places to the 2025 IHF Men’s Youth Beach Handball World Championship, the fight for the third and final spot went down to a three-way split between Qatar, China and Oman, who all finished on six points each.

However, Qatar grabbed that final spot thanks to 2-0 victories over China (23:8, 18:12) and Oman (16:14, 15:8) which saw them hold the head-to-head record against their rivals, but also with the addition of a better points and set differential, no doubt helped by an almost-impossible 31 points scored by Alan Almubareak in their 2-0 victory over Indonesia.

The gold for Iran followed on from their 2022 one, earned on home sand in Tehran. https://www.ihf.info/media-center/news/iran-cause-sensation-home-sand They finished ahead of Jordan and Qatar in Iran, with all through qualifying through to the 2022 IHF Men’s Beach Handball Youth (U18) World Championship. Thailand won the debut edition of the continental event in Pattaya in 2016, followed by Chinese Taipei, Pakistan, Iran and Qatar.

Referees for the event in Bangkok came from across Asia with the Thai pairs of Bulakorn Kongka and Thiwakorn Sangjun, plus Thanawat Sittichatburana and Thanawit Sitthichatburana, joined by Ali Isa Ali Mohamed and Husain Matooq Al-Awainati (Bahrain), Salem Al-Sabti and Yaqoub Al-Yousefi (Kuwait), Hussain Ali Al-Mokhtar and Mohammed Mousa Al-Nakhli (Saudi Arabia) and the Vietnamese pair of Quang Huy Nguyen and Tram Tuan Thanh Duong.

Technical Delegates included Ismail Salem Mohammad (United Arab Emirates), Minoru Nakada (Japan), Mahir Al-Dughaishi (Oman), Asim Rashid (Pakistan), Naser Tanji (Syria) and Dr. Chatchai Sangsukeelux (Thailand).

Results

Women’s Competition
CHN vs HKG 2-0 (28:7, 22:12)
INA vs THA 0-2 (8:20, 15:16)
INA vs HKG 2-0 (12:11, 13:12)
CHN vs THA 2-0 (20:6, 20:8)
CHN vs INA 2-0 (24:10, 20:8)
THA vs HKG 2-0 (26:14, 19:11)
HKG vs CHN 0-2 (6:24, 7:24)
THA vs INA 2-0 (22:6, 22:8)
HKG vs INA 2-1 (17:18, 17:13, SO 5:4)
THA vs CHN 1-2 (21:20, 14:19, SO 4:10)
INA vs CHN 0-2 (16:24, 16:18)
HKG vs THA 0-2 (11:24, 10:14)

Men’s Competition
OMA vs IRI 1-2 (8:16, 18:16, SO 8:9)
JOR vs QAT 2-1 (16:10, 10:16, SO 7:4)
THA vs INA 2-0 (26:12, 23:8)
IRI vs JOR 2-0 (19:12, 15:8)
INA vs OMA 0-2 (14:22, 10:14)
THA vs CHN 1-2 (13:12, 22:25, SO 4:7)
INA vs JOR 0-2 (4:18, 8:22)
CHN vs QAT 0-2 (8:23, 12:18)
OMA vs THA 1-2 (16:15, 23:24, SO: 8:9)
OMA vs JOR 2-0 (20:18, 20:14)
CHN vs IRI 1-2 (12:26, 16:14, SO 4:6)
QAT vs THA 1-2 (18:19, 14:8, SO 8:10)
INA vs CHN 0-2 (8:18, 20:23)
IRI vs QAT 2-1 (22:20, 16:8, SO 9:6)
JOR vs THA 1-2 (14:15, 14:12, SO 6:7)
JOR vs CHN 0-2 (14:20, 23:28)
QAT vs OMA 2-0 (16:14, 15:8)
IRI vs INA 2-0 (30:14, 22:16)
THA vs IRI 0-2 (16:24, 18:28)
CHN vs OMA 0-2 (14:25, 18:21)
QAT vs INA 2-0 (30:18, 23:12)

Final Ranking

Women’s Competition
1 People’s Republic of China (CHN)*
2 Thailand (THA)*
3 Indonesia (INA)
4 Hong Kong, China (HKG)

Men’s Competition
1 Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI)*
2 Thailand (THA)*
3 Qatar (QAT)*
4 Oman (OMA)
5 People’s Republic of China (CHN)
6 Jordan (JOR)
7 Indonesia (INA)

*Qualified for the 2025 IHF Men’s and Women’s Youth (U17) Beach Handball World Championships, taking place from 17 to 22 June 2025 in Hammamet, Tunisia.