Following
the referee preparatory course and technical meetings over the past two days,
the 21st AHF Men’s Asian Club League Championship gets underway in Kuwait City,
Kuwait today (20 March), finishing on 1 April.
The
winners of the championship will qualify for the 2019 IHF Men’s Super Globe, to
be held in Saudi Arabia later this year.
Four
preliminary groups feature 13 teams from 11 countries: Bahrain (BRN), China (CHN),
India (IND), Iraq (IRQ), Saudi Arabia (KSA), Kuwait (KUW), Lebanon (LBN), Oman
(OMA), Qatar (QAT), Syria (SYR) and United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The
top two in each of the four groups go through to two main round groups of four
teams each, then the top two in each of those progress to the semi-finals with
the winners moving onto the final.
The
four preliminary groups are:
Group
A: Dragon (CHN), Mudhar (KSA), Al Sadaka (LBN)
Group
B: Al Jaish (SYR), Muscat (OMA), Al Wakra (QAT)
Group
C: Kuwait (KUW), Al Karkh (IRQ), T-Sports (IND), Bar Bar (BRN)
Group
D: Al Duhail (QAT), Al Sharjah (UAE), Kazma (KUW)
This
championship was originally due to be held in Amman, Jordan from 10-23 November
2018 but was postponed due to “unavoidable
circumstances”. The previous edition of the championship, edition
number 20, took place in India in November 2017 with Al Najma from Bahrain taking
the honours.
Follow the 21st AHF Men’s
Asian Club League Championship via the Asian Handball Federation Facebook page HERE.
MATCH SCHEDULE
All times local, all games
played at Kuwait Club
Wednesday
20 March
12:45 T-Sports (IND) vs Al Karkh (IRQ)
14:30 Al Sadaka (LBN) vs Dragon (CHN)
16:15 Al Wakra (QAT) vs Al Jaish (SYR)
17:45 Opening Ceremony
18:15 Bar Bar (BRN) vs Kuwait (KUW)
20:00 Kazma (KUW) vs Al Duhail (QAT)
Thursday
21 March
12:45 Mudhar (KSA) vs Al Sadaka (LBN)
14:30 Muscat (OMA) vs Al Wakra (QAT)
16:15 Bar Bar (BRN) vs Al Karkh (IRQ)
18:15 T-Sports
(IND) vs Kuwait (KUW)
20:00 Al Sharjah (UAE) vs Kazma (KUW)
Friday
22 March
13:00 Al Jaish (SYR) vs Muscat (OMA)
14:45 Dragon (CHN) vs Mudhar (KSA)
16:30 Bar Bar (BRN) vs T-Sports (IND)
18:30 Al Duhail (QAT) vs Al Sharjah (UAE)
20:15 Al Karkh
(IRQ) vs Kuwait (KUW)
Saturday
23 March
Rest Day
Main Round onwards
Sunday
24-Saturday 30 March (29 March – rest day): Main Round and 9-13 Placement Round
Saturday
30 March (17:00, 19:00hrs): Semi-Finals
Sunday
31 March: 5-13 Placement Matches
Monday
1 April: Bronze (17:00hrs), Gold (19:00hrs)