From 1 to 12 October 2018, the third edition of the Youth Olympic Games will be staged in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For the first time, beach handball is on the Olympic programme and thus the International Handball Federation organises the first Men’s and Women’s U17 Beach Handball World Championships to determine the teams to take part in Buenos Aires 2018.

 

The 2017 U17 Beach Handball World Championships will take place in Mauritius, more precisely on one of the longest sandy beaches of the island: the Flic en flac beach. From 11 to 16 July, the teams from Europe, Asia, Africa, Pan America and Oceania will fight for the trophy and a spot at the Youth Olympic Games.

 

The following teams are already qualified:

 

Men’s youth: MRI, THA, TPE, PAK, ESP, POR, ITA, RUS

Women’s youth: MRI, CHN, THA, TPE, NED, ESP, POR, NOR

 

The European and Asian countries qualified at their respective championships in 2016, whereas the Pan American (4 teams in each gender), Oceanian (2 teams in each gender) and African teams (2 teams in each gender) are still to be determined.

 

The first teams to qualify came from Europe. In the Portuguese town of Nazare, 16 men’s and women’s teams each hit the beach from 8 to 10 July 2016. In the final of the men’s competition, the Spain beat hosts Portugal 2:1 and Italy secured bronze with a 2:0 victory over Russia. In the women’s competition, the Dutch women’s team defeated Spain clearly 2:0, while hosts Portugal ranked third by beating Norway 2:1.

 

From 10 to 16 August 2016, five men’s and four women’s teams fought for the Asian Youth Beach Handball Championship trophy and a spot at the U17 Beach Handball World Championships in Pattaya, Thailand. While Thailand claimed gold by beating Chinese Taipei 2:0 in the final of the men’s competition, the winners of the match for third place were determined by shoot-outs, in which Pakistan defeated Qatar 2:1 in the end. In the women’s tournament, China topped the podium with a 2:0 win over Hong Kong, while hosts Thailand claimed bronze defeating Chinese Taipei after shoot-outs 2:1. 

 

The next beach handball event to come are the Men’s and Women’s Youth Pan American Beach Handball Championships, which will take place in Paraguay’s capital Asuncion from 21 to 25 February 2017. Oceania’s qualification event will be staged from 2 to 5 May in Cook Islands.