The preliminary round of the 2026 AHF Asian Men's Youth Handball Championship has concluded on Wednesday, 26 August, in Amman, Jordan, with eight of the 10 participating teams advancing to the quarter-finals.

Only two sides – Bahrain in Group A and Qatar in Group B – are undefeated, winning their groups and enhacing their chances to secure a place in the semi-finals, with the four semi-finalists securing a ticket for the 2027 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship.

Bahrain dominated Group A, throwing off with a dominating 51:20 performance against India, where Mahdi Ali scored 12 goals and Mohamed Marzooq added 10 goals, following up with another clear win, 41:19 against hosts Jordan.

Winners in 2016 and 2018, Bahrain then secured a 36:28 win against Uzbekistan, before seeing of the Republic of Korea, the team which finished second, with yet another excellent performance, 35:28, in a match where Korea led in the first 15 minutes, but Bahrain pulled away late in the first half.

Korea’s wins against Uzbekistan (47:29), India (37:27) and Jordan (25:24) were enough to see them finish second, while Uzbekistan ended up on the third place, with a fantastic 42:32 win in the last match of the preliminary round against Jordan being decisive.

Jordan ended up fourth and will have a tough clash in the quarter-finals against the other unbeaten team of the competition, Qatar, which went four out of four in their group.

With plenty of players who featured at the inaugural IHF Men’s Under-17 World Championship last autumn, Qatar announced their intentions from the first match, where they dominated Saudi Arabia, 30:22, with up-and-coming centre back Ramy Mahrous scoring seven goals.

Mahrous was once again the best scorer for Qatar in their 30:19 with against Kuwait, and doubled down on his performance with an eight-goal outing in Qatar’s toughest match, the 24:22 win against the Islamic Republic of Iran, before the Gulf team secured a 42:29 win against Syria, their fourth in a row.

Iran ended up second, their wins against Saudi Arabia (28:20), Kuwait (21:18) and Syria (45:30) being enough to finish on six points, while Kuwait finished third, with the decisive win coming against Saudi Arabia, 30:28, in the last matchday, where Saleem Saleem and Abdulhadi Barrak combined for 17 goals.

Saudi Arabia also secured their place in the quarter-finals, as their win against Syria, 32:19, saw them leapfrog their opponents in the final standings.

The quarter-finals will take place on 28 August, with Korea meeting Kuwait, Qatar facing Jordan, Iran taking on Uzbekistan and Bahrain battling Saudi Arabia.

Bahrain’s Mohamed Marzooq is the top scorer of the competition, with 30 goals, followed by Syria’s Abdulhadi Tobal, with 28 goals, and two Uzbekistan players - Ozodbek Safarov and Boburshokh Yorkulov, with 27 goals.

The winners of these matches will advance to the semi-finals and will be Asia’s representatives at the 2027 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship.

The semi-finals are scheduled for 29 August, with the competition ending on 31 August.