Today (18 June) marks the first rest day of the 7th AHF Men’s and Women’s Asian Beach Handball Championship which being held at the Tianmu Resort Village in Zhang Jiachan Town, Weihai City, Shandong Province, China from 15-24 June.

The men’s competition is split into two preliminary groups of six teams each with the top two in each going directly through to the semi-final stage and the rest fighting it out for 5-12 place.

Preliminary Group A features Qatar (QAT), Vietnam (VIE), Chinese Taipei (TPE), Afghanistan (AFG), Indonesia (INA) and Philippines (PHI).

Preliminary Group B includes Oman (OMA), Iran (IRI), Thailand (THA), Pakistan (PAK), Japan (JPN) and Saudi Arabia (KSA).

After 18 games across the first three matchdays in the competition the favourites – and title-holders – Qatar, are looking strong in the men’s competition with three perfect 2-0 wins, against Philippines, Indonesia and Afghanistan in Group A, along with Vietnam who have also registered three 2-0 wins in a row in the same group.

 

In Group B, Oman have also registered three perfect victories – against Saudi Arabia, Japan and Pakistan, while Iran have also won three times but needed two shoot-out wins, against Thailand (10:8) and Saudi Arabia (8:7) along with their 2-0 regular time win over Japan.

The women’s competition starts tomorrow (Wednesday 19 June) and sees six teams in one group competing for glory in a round-robin format: China (CHN), Thailand (THA), Vietnam (VIE), Chinese Taipei (TPE), Hong Kong (HKG) and Japan (JPN).

The championships in China serve as a qualifier for both the 2019 ANOC World Beach Games in Qatar and the 2020 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball Championships to be held in Italy.

The top two teams in both the men’s and women’s competitions will receive a direct ticket to Italy.

RESULTS

Saturday 15 June

Men’s Competition

TPE vs AFG 2-0 (19:11, 17:14)

THA vs PAK 2-1 (20:19, 18:23, SO 8:6)

VIE vs IND 2-0 (13:6, 22:5)

IRI vs JPN 2-0 (22:10, 16:10)

QAT vs PHI 2-0 (22:10, 22:8)

OMA vs KSA 2-0 (16:12, 22:10)

 

Sunday 16 June

 

Men’s Competition

IND vs QAT 0-2 (11:26, 7:28)

AFG vs PHI 0-2 (14:16, 18:24)

IRI vs THA 2-1 (16:12, 8:13, SO 10:8)

VIE vs TPE 2-0 (23:12, 18:12)

JPN vs OMA 0-2 (8:18, 16:21)

PAK vs KSA 2-0 (16:14, 18:12)

 

Monday 17 June

 

Men’s Competition

QAT vs AFG 2-0 (22:9, 31:7)

TPE vs IND 2-0 (22:14, 26:14)

OMA vs PAK 2-0 (13:10, 16:14)

PHI vs VIE 0-2 (14:24, 10:16)

KSA vs IRI 1-2 (16:15, 10:28, SO 7:8)

THA vs JPN 2-0 (22:14, 24:14)

 

Competition Schedule

(All times local)

 

Tuesday 18 June

Rest Day

 

Wednesday 19 June

 

Men’s Competition

 

10:00 IND vs PHI

10:45 JPN vs KSA

11:30 AFG vs VIE

15:00 THA vs OMA

15:45 TPE vs QAT

16:30 PAK vs IRI

 

Women’s Competition

15:00 VIE vs TPE

15:45 THA vs HKG

16:30 CHN vs JPN

 

Thursday 20 June

 

Men’s Competition

10:00 AFG vs IND

10:45 KSA vs THA

11:30 PHI vs TPE

15:00 PAK vs JPN

15:45 QAT vs VIE

16:30 OMA vs IRI

 

Women’s Competition

15:00 THA vs VIE

15:45 HKG vs CHN

16:30 TPE vs JPN

 

Friday 21 June

Rest Day

 

Saturday 22 June

 

Men’s Competition

5-12 Placement Round

10:00 5A vs 6B

10:45 5B vs 6A

11:30 3A vs 4B

15:00 3B vs 4A

 

15:45 Semi-Final 1A vs 2B

16:30 Semi-Final 1B vs 2A

 

Women’s Competition

15:00 CHN vs TPE

15:45 JPN vs THA

16:30 VIE vs HKG

 

Sunday 23 June

 

Men’s Competition

 

10:00 11/12 Placement Match

10:45 9/10 Placement Match

11:30 7/8 Placement Match

15:00 5/6 Placement Match

 

Women’s Competition

15:45 HKG vs JPN

16:30 VIE vs CHN

17:15 TPE vs THA

 

Monday 24 June

 

Men’s Competition

16:30 Bronze Medal Match

18:00 Gold Medal Match/Final

 

Women’s Competition

15:00 JPN vs VIE

15:45 TPE vs HKG

17:15 CHN vs THA

For photos and results check the Asian Handball Federation Facebook page.

For more information about the championship, click HERE.

Photos: Asian Handball Federation