The third edition of the IHF Men’s and Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championship (17 to 22 June) has started in Hammamet, Tunisia.

14 men’s and women’s preliminary group games were played on the North African coast, in addition to a spectacular opening ceremony.

Host nation Tunisia had a great day at the office, winning both their men’s and women’s games, while Cook Islands made their IHF World Championship debut, along with numerous other nations – just two shoot-outs took place on the opening day, one in each competition.

European champions Hungary show strength as hosts debut with win

The highlight clash of the day – European champions Hungary against title-holders Croatia – lived up to its billing, with Hungary taking the game 2-1, thanks to an 8:6 shoot-out win which saw Frane Ramilovic’s missed shot cost Croatia. His side – who were only confirmed to be at Tunisia 2025 last week due to Tanzania not being able to compete – came back from a one-side first set (23:12 to Hungary) to take a 23:20 second. However, it was not to be and Samu Knob ended as top-scorer in the game, the Hungarian scoring 18 points.

The evening session featured two debutants going up against each other with Tunisia pleasing the home fans, running out 2-0 (24:16, 24:16) winners over Mexico, thanks to 12 points each from Merchergui Seif Eddine and Yahia Makhlouf.

After travelling 18,000km and becoming the first-ever Cook Islands team to play in an IHF World Championship, Totoo Te Au Arai Tiaore made handball history for his nation, scoring their first-ever points, but despite his side impressing in their very first competitive game, they went down to Thailand (19:12, 23:12) with Saknarin Wongaita top-scoring on 16 points, and Cook Islands’ Eli Topui on 12.

“It felt good, exciting, shocking to score, because I never really score much when we play. To get our first goal, it felt so good,” said Tiaore to ihf.info. “We could do better, but we did good as it was our first time playing at this level.”

YAC 16 EURO 2024 silver medallists Spain saw off debutants Puerto Rico 2-0 (26:6, 24:12), Germany handed first-timers Kenya a comprehensive 2-0 (30:7, 34:16) loss, which saw Finn Jacobsen grab 18 points.

Senegal – also competing for the first time in the competition – went down 2-0 (21:10, 30:12), while Argentina defeated Uruguay for the second time in just over six months, taking a 2-0 (18:14, 20:16) victory, thanks to 12 points from Juan Dirr, Uruguay closing the gap slightly from their continental 2-0 (16:10, 17:12) loss last year.

Favourites Netherlands impress, title-holders Spain made to work on opening day

Title-holders Spain eventually saw off Croatia in their all-European clash in the evening, easing to a 25:14 first set victory, but then scraping a 25:24 victory in the second. Carlota Bravo Garcia top-scored with 17 points, including the equaliser and single point in the golden goal period of the second set which saw five attacks.

Asian champions China were no match for European champions Netherlands in their afternoon clash, the Dutch winning 2-0 (26:18, 19:14), while the two teams they beat in their respective continental finals played one of the most dramatic games of the day. 

After Thailand eased to a 14:12 first set win in which they were never in trouble, they looked have wrapped up the second, scoring a single point to make it 19:18 in their favour in the final minute. But an action-packed last 60 seconds saw Alycia Sow score and then Jeyna-Berty Makenzet-Moussa block the possible go-ahead strike from Thailand to take it to a shoot-out, where Justine Venne proved to be the difference, helping to set-up Eloise Laborde to score the winning single point.

In the other games, debutants Bulgaria went down 2-0 (25:22, 25:24) to Uruguay, who had Josefina Henaise to thank, scoring 18 points, while Tunisia, following a bubbly and action-packed opening ceremony on the central court, had Ons Slama (16 points) to thank for their 2-0 (21:10, 15:10) win over fellow debutants Mexico.

“We worked really hard for this,” said Tunisia’s Mariem Ziri to local media. “We are proud to win at home, and we’ll do anything to win the next match.”

Hungary saw off Senegal 2-0 (23:16, 12:10) with 12 points from Brigitta Siklodi helping them secure two points, although in a tight second set, Emma Kocsis scored a 6m penalty at the end to second the victory.

And Kenya’s Grace Simiyu wrote her name in the Kenyan history books, scoring the first-ever points for her country at an IHF World Championship in their 2-0 (24:8, 32:6) loss to Germany – a game in which Kenya, who had never played a competitive game before, could have gone ahead after Deborah Manganga stole the ball in defence early on, but her shot into a full-court empty goal went just wide.

“I feel good, and this game will help us level up,” said Simiyu to ihf.info after the game. “Today I learned to be faster with the ball and not fumble the ball. Everyone in my family was watching at home, our country. They are proud, whatever happened today, because it is our first time.”

Day 1 Results – Tuesday 17 June

Men’s Competition
ESP vs PUR 2-0 (26:6, 24:12)
HUN vs CRO 2-1 (23:12, 20:23, SO 8:6)
GER vs KEN 2-0 (30:7, 34:16)
BRA vs SEN 2-0 (21:10, 30:12) 
TUN vs MEX 2-0 (24:16, 24:16)
ARG vs URU 2-0 (18:14, 20:16)
THA vs COK 2-0 (19:12, 23:12)

Women’s Competition
FRA vs THA 2-1 (12:14, 20,19, SO 7:6)
NED vs CHN 2-0 (26:18, 19:14)
GER vs KEN 2-0 (24:8, 32:6)
URU vs BUL 2-0 (25:22, 25:24)
TUN vs MEX 2-0 (21:10, 15:10)
CRO vs ESP 0-2 (14:25, 24:25)
HUN vs SEN 2-0 (23:16, 12:10)

The games (not listed above, but showing on IHF.info) Iran vs Oman (men) and Brazil vs Tanzania (women) were awarded as 2-0 (10:0, 10:0) default wins to Oman and Brazil respectively, following a team and schedule change on the eve of the world championships.

All games can be watched again on the IHF YouTube Competitions channel.