History to be made in Kazakhstan for Asian women’s youth teams

Syria’s youth team will become the first side from the nation to appear at a younger age continental championship when they take the court for the 2022 AHF Women’s Asian Youth (U18) Championship, which will be played from 18 to 25 March at the Universal Sports Complex Dostyk in Kazakhstan.

The championship follows on from the recently-concluded junior championship held at the same venue in the Asian nations’ capital city, Almaty.

Due to ongoing restrictions related to COVID-19, Republic of Korea, Japan and the People’s Republic of China, amongst other nations, will not be appearing in Kazakhstan. Korea have won all eight previous editions after the championship since it started in 2005 and the trio of nations have taken 21 of the 24 medals on offer.

The remaining three medals – all bronze – were won by the host nation of the 2022 edition, Kazakhstan, and they will be strong favourites to win the championship on home soil which will represent, perhaps, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win a medal for the other four teams competing – Uzbekistan, India, Islamic Republic of Iran and Syria.

While Syria will make their bow, Uzbekistan will be appearing in their fifth youth championship, while India will be in their fourth and Iran their third. The host nation will be in their seventh. Only Korea and Japan had appeared in all previous eight editions.

The top two teams in Kazakhstan will qualify directly for the 2022 IHF Women’s Youth (U18) World Championship, scheduled to be held from 3 to 14 August 2022. India, Syria and Iran could make further history as they have never qualified for the global event.

Korea won the previous edition of the AHF Women’s Asian Youth Championship, held in Jaipur, India, in August 2019, easily defeating China in the final, 32:14.

Follow the event on the official Facebook page of the Asian Handball Federation. 

Photo: Asian Handball Federation