Asian Women’s Youth Handball Championship:
Iran pips Chinese Taipei to consolation fifth place
There was a bit of consolation for Iranian girls at the end of a tough Asian Youth Handball Championship campaign in Jinggangshan, China, courtesy of a 34-33 victory over the Chinese Taipei in the fifth-place playoff.
Parisan Khosravi delivered a player-of-the-match performance with 11 goals, as the game finished 30-30 at the end of normal time before Iran came out victorious in the shootout.
Diana Rezaei, meanwhile, contributed six goals before being forced out injured in the early stages of the second period, with Sana Fotouhi chipping in eight.
Iranian girls were unlucky to be drawn in the same group as Japan and South Korea – top two in the previous edition – suffering back-to-back 40-27 defeats against the two Asian powerhouses, but they managed to beat India 42-30 to stand third in the Group B table.
Iran then overcame Hong Kong 32-15, thanks to a prolific performance by Rezai, before pulling off a win against the Chinese Taipei on Thursday.
Japan will be looking to defend its crown when taking on China in today’s final showpiece at the Gymnasium of Jiangxi University of Software Professional Technology, with South Korea and Kazakhstan fighting for the third place.
The four semifinalists have already booked a spot at the 2026 IHF Youth World Championship.