Coveted ticket to Paris 2024 to be awarded at the Asian Men's Olympic Qualification Tournament

The Road to Paris 2024 continues over the next 10 days in Doha, Qatar, as 11 teams enter the fray in the Asian Men's Olympic Qualification Tournament, with one ticket for Paris 2024 being awarded to the winner of the competition.

The best 11 Asian sides will be toughing it out for a place to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with the competition being held in the Duhail Handball Sports Hall, which hosted both the 2015 IHF Men’s Super Globe and several matches at the 2015 IHF Men’s World Championship.

The competition will take place between 18 and 28 October, with two round-robin groups in the preliminary round, with the top two sides in each group progressing to the semi-finals, extending their hopes for the coveted Paris 2024 Olympic Games ticket.

With Qatar and Bahrain, the two favourites, being drawn in separate groups, it is likely that the two powerhouses, which represented Asia in the previous two editions of the Olympic Games, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, will battle it out also this time for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games spot.

In fact, Qatar and Bahrain were also the finalists in the men’s tournament at the 2022 Asian Games, which took place this September in Hangzhou, the People’s Republic of China, with Valero Rivera’s side taking a 32:25 win in the final.

After finishing eighth at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, but only 22nd at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship, Qatar are aiming to return in style at Paris 2024, as they are favoured in Group A, where they face Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Korea, the United Arab Emirates, India and the People’s Republic of China.

Last January, at the 2022 AHF Asian Men's Handball Championship, Qatar delivered big wins against Saudi Arabia (34:19) and the United Arab Emirates (22:17), as they secured their fifth title in a row, extending their continental domination, having won every competition since 2014 onwards.

In Group B, which only has five teams, Bahrain will be facing a stronger challenge, with the battle for the first two places promising to be fiery. Aron Kristjánsson’s side will face the Islamic Republic of Iran, which displayed some excellent handball at the 2023 IHF Men’s World Championship, Japan, Kuwait and Kazakhstan, with only the first two sides progressing to the semi-finals.

The semi-finals are due to take place on 26 October, while the final and the bronze-medal match are scheduled for 28 October. The winner of the Asian Men's Olympic Qualification Tournament will progress directly to Paris 2024, while the runners-up secure a place in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments, due to take place in March 2024.

Only two sides have secured their places for the men’s tournament at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games so far – hosts France and world champions Denmark. The next tickets will be handed at the 2023 Pan American Games, at the EHF EURO 2024 and at the 2024 CAHB African Men’s Handball Championship, with the latter two competitions due to take place in January 2024.