Bahrain, Kuwait, Japan and Qatar make Asian Championship semi-finals

The 2026 AHF Asian Men’s Handball Championship, hosted by Kuwait, has delivered its semi-finalists, after a fantastically balanced main round phase, with the four teams making the penultimate act also sealing the available berths for the 2027 IHF Men’s World Championship.

All the eight teams featuring in the main round started on zero points, therefore making the battle even more interesting, and in Group II, the fight for the coveted two semi-finals spots went until the end, with Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia each finishing with four points.

The winners of the last six editions of the competition – Qatar – threw off with a key win over Saudi Arabia, 32:25, with a stellar second half, after the score was tied at the break, 14:14. It proved to be a crucial win for the Asian powerhouse, which lost the second match, 28:31, against Bahrain, in a match where the two leaders of the sides – Frankis Marzo and Hussain Al Sayyad, each scored 11 goals.

It was Qatar’s second loss in this competition, after the one against the Republic of Korea, but with Saudi Arabia taking a 23:21 win over Bahrain in the last match of the group, a three-way tie between the three Gulf states ensued, with Qatar having the best goal difference.

 

The title holders managed a +4 goal difference, better than Bahrain’s +1 and Saudi Arabia’s -5, therefore finished first and will meet Kuwait in the semi-finals, the team finishing on the second place in Group I.

It went down to the wire in Group I too, where the runners-up from the previous edition, Japan, shook off some difficult moments to come out on top. First, they drew, 23:23, against the Republic of Korea, with the latter side tying the score with the last shot of the match, a free throw which left Japan reeling.

Then, Japan secured a one-goal win against Kuwait, 28:27, after Kuwait failed to score in the last two minutes, despite having three attacks, following up with another one-goal win against Iraq, 30:29, with Japan’s opponents missing another attack in the end.

The decider for the semi-finals berth and the World Championship spot proved to be the match between the Republic of Korea and Kuwait. The lead changed hands several times in the first half, with Korea taking a 15:14 lead at the break.

 

However, Kuwait started the second half better and opened a three-goal lead, 21:18, as goalkeeper Hasan Safar made key saves, taking his tally to 16 in the match. Right wing Saleh Ali scored seven goals, and helped Kuwait keep the lead until the end, when they secured a 31:27 win.

In the Martyr Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Cup, Hong-Kong China and People’s Republic of China made it to the Placement Match 9/10 by winning their groups, while India ended up on the 15th place, conceding losses in all matches, including one against Australia, 24:39.

Jordan’s Khaled Abu Hasan is the top scorer, with 43 goals, followed by Kuwait’s Saif Aladwani, with 41 goals and Korea’s Jinyoung Kim, with 35 goals. The Islamic Republic of Iran’s goalkeeper Omidreza Robat, has saved 35 shots for a 55.5% saving efficiency, leading the standings, while Hasan Safar has the largest number of saves, 59.

Japan will face Bahrain in the first semi-final, while Qatar meet Kuwait in the second semi-final on 27 January, with the medal matches being scheduled on Thursday, 29 January. The four teams have also sealed their berths for the 2027 IHF Men’s World Championship.

Credit photo: Kuwait Handball Federation