After a packed month of March, we will take a closer look at April, another month full of handball action – and a decisive one as several World Championship qualification events will be held across the continents.

But first, let us recap March, throughout which we focused on gender equality, with a special series featuring women in handball from all continents.  It was also the month, in which the 2021 IHF World Players and Coaches of the Year were determined, with two Danish goalkeepers, Niklas Landin Jacobsen and Sandra Toft, earning the plaudits, as well as the two Danish masterminds Nikolaj Jacobsen and Jesper Jensen.

In terms of events, history was made by Belgium, who qualified for their first-ever IHF Men’s World Championship after their matches against Slovakia in the  first part of the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship Qualification Europe – Phase 2. It was also a big month for Islamic Republic of Iran, whose teams won the AHF Asian Women’s Youth Championship and the AHF Asian Men’s Senior and Youth Beach Handball Championships – all for the first time ever – while India claimed the debut continental title at the AHF Asian Women’s Junior Championship.  

Argentina and Brazil are celebrating as well, as their teams took the top two places at SCAHC Women’s Junior Championship and the SCAHC Men’s and Women’s Youth Beach Handball Championships, thus qualifying for this year’s IHF Women’s Junior (U20) World Championship as well as the IHF Men’s and Women’s Youth (U18) Beach Handball World Championship. 

In Africa, Egypt claimed gold at the CAHB Women’s Youth African Championship, followed by Guinea and Algeria, who will both make their IHF Women’s Youth (U18) World Championship debut this summer. 

In April, plenty of World Championship qualification events will be held throughout several continents, as numerous spots for the main international competitions this summer are still at stake.
 
The NACHC Qualification Event for the 2022 IHF Women’s Junior (U20) World Championship will take place in Mexico from 4 to 8 April, with four teams at the start – hosts Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico and the United States of America.

Morocco will host the CAHB Men’s African Beach Handball Championship between 9 and 11 April, serving as an event which will determine the African representative at the 2022 IHF Men’s Beach Handball World Championship in Greece.

The South American representatives at Greece 2022 will be determined in Maceió, Brazil from 11 to 16 April, when the 2022 Men’s and Women’s South and Central American Beach Handball Championship will take place.

Between 13 and 17 April, teams across Europe will continue their battle for the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship spots, with promising matches on the schedule. 

The South and Central American Women’s Youth Championship is due to take place in Brazil, from 26 to 30 April, with berths available for the IHF Women’s Youth (U18) World Championship later this year.

Furthermore, the Men’s IHF Trophy tournaments will continue, with the first tournament since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic currently being played in Costa Rica. The South American Zone youth and junior tournaments of the Men’s IHF Trophy South and Central America will take place in Asuncion, Paraguay from 19 to 23 April 2022 and will determine the teams for the Continental Phase of the IHF Trophy South and Central America.

Club competitions in Europe, both Men’s and Women’s EHF Champions League and EHF European League are also in full swing, with the business end of the competitions in sight.