The preliminary round at the 2026 AHF Asian Men's Junior Handball Championship yielded huge surprises, with the champion of the previous two editions, Japan, failing to make the cut for the quarter-finals in Chuzhou, People’s Republic of China, while the team holding the joint largest number of titles, Qatar, also out of contention.

13 teams lined up at the start of the 2026 AHF Asian Men's Junior Handball Championship 2026 in Chuzhou, People’s Republic of China, being divided into two groups of six and seven teams each, with the top four teams from each group advancing into the quarter-finals and keeping their hopes of a medal alive.

Three sides – Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Korea and the United Arab Emirates – were undefeated at the end of the preliminary round, with the former sealing five wins out of five matches in Group A, while Korea won Group B with five wins and a single draw.

Saudi Arabia thoroughly dominated their matches, earning clear wins in the preliminary round, starting with a 40:27 win against Oman. A 30:26 win in the derby against Bahrain followed, with the third win coming against the Chinese Taipei, 46:29.

The match against the hosts, the People’s Republic of China, looked to be the hardest, as Saudi Arabia held a 20:18 lead at the break. The second half had a slower pace, but thanks to the efforts of Abdullah Nabil Almarhoon (10 goals) and Ahmed Nabil Alobaidi (nine goals), Saudi Arabia took a 35:30 win and won the group even before their last match against Hong Kong-China, where they clinched their largest win, 46:11.

Bahrain finished second, with wins over the Chinese Taipei (39:27), Hong Kong-China (43:15), Oman (33:23) and in the last matchday against the hosts, 35:27, with China ending up on the third place, with three wins and one loss.

The last qualifying place was secured by the Chinese Taipei, whose wins against Oman (41:26) and Hong Kong-China (38:16) proved decisive.

The situation in Group B was, however, much more balanced, with two of the favourites being left out of the quarter-finals altogether, after conceding four losses each, as Japan and Qatar finished fifth and sixth respectively.

In the 21 matches played in this group, seven matches were decided by one goal, two draws were registered and 

The group was won by the Republic of Korea, who also gave the top scorer of the competition, Yeongu Choi, with 44 goals, as they won five matches and drew another one, boasting a +40 goal difference, from which 30 goals came in the win against India, 49:19.

Korea beat Qatar, 28:27, after being down three goals in the 36th minute, following up with another one-goal win, 29:28, against the Islamic Republic of Iran, again after a strong comeback, with Korea being down two goals with 10 minutes to go.

Wins against Kuwait (34:28) and Japan (28:26), plus a hard-fought draw against the United Arab Emirates (30:30) were enough to give Korea the first place in the group, with 11 points, one more than the UAE team.

The United Arab Emirates are the big surprise of the competition, making their comeback for the first time since 2012 and they were undefeated after six matches, securing the second place.

The first shock came against Japan, where they took a 32:29 win in the opener, followed by another clear win against Qatar, 29:24. They drew against the Islamic Republic of Iran, 25:25, and against Korea, with wins over India (52:21) and Kuwait (29:28) sealing their place.

Iran finished third with seven points, followed by Kuwait, with six points, as they all made the quarter-finals, while Qatar and Japan followed in the fifth and sixth places, with India being the only team with six losses.

The competition will continue with the quarter-finals on 24 July, as Bahrain take on the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Korea meet the Chinese Taipei, the UAE face the hosts, People’s Republic of China, and Saudi Arabia are due to play against Kuwait.

The winners of these ties progress to the semi-finals and qualify for the 2027 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship. 

Photo credit: AHF