Iranian women to chase historic podium in Asian Handball Championship
Iranian women’s team will be looking to make history by winning a first-ever medal at the Asian Handball Championship in New Delhi, India, where four quotas for next year’s World Championship will be on the line.
Iranian girls secured the berth for the global showdown in the previous two editions of the Asian event, but ultimately missed out on the podium following defeats against Kazakhstan and China in the third-place playoffs.
Nashmin Shafeian’s team will get its campaign underway against Asian powerhouse Japan – runner-up to South Korea in the last five editions – in Group B on Tuesday, in a repeat of the 2022 semifinal, where the Japanese walked away with a comfortable 43-19 victory.
Iran will take on the host on Wednesday, before concluding the group phase against Hong Kong two days later at the Indira Gandhi Arena.
“The first game will be a really tough one as Japan is one the best teams in the continent, but we will be looking to take all points from the next two outings to clinch a world berth, and then hopefully battle for a podium finish,” Shafeian said before her team headed to New Delhi on Friday.
The bad news for the Iranian head coach is that she will have to do without star player Fatemeh Merrikh, who missed the Indian trip after suffering an elbow injury on the eve of the tournament.
With South Korea and Japan being the clear favorites to square off in a sixth successive final showdown, it will likely be a three-way battle between China, Kazakhstan, and Iran for a third-place finish.
China and Kazakhstan are in Group A of the eight-team competition – also featuring 16-time champion South Korea and Singapore – and their encounter on Tuesday will likely decide the runner-up spot in the final standing of the group.
“Our top priority is to seal the World Championship quota, and then we will set our sights on the biggest achievement of our careers, which is an Asian medal,” Iranian captain Mina Vatanparast told ISNA, adding: “To that end, I believe we will have overcome China.”
“We have played against all of our group opponents before. Japan is a strong team, not only in Asia but on a global level. We defeated Hong Kong in 2018, and beat India by a high margin two years ago, though they will be a much better side at home,” added Vatanparast.