Asian Beach Games:
Iran off to flyer in beach handball
Iran enjoyed a flying start to its men’s beach handball campaign at the 2026 Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China, defeating the Philippines 2-0 in Group A on Tuesday.
Mahdi Qashqaei’s men won the first period 14-10 before taking the second 21-20 to secure victory in Iran’s maiden handball appearance in six editions of the event.
“The first match is always a crucial one for any team, but we had a good training process over the past 10 days,” Qashqaei said. “The National Olympic Committee made great efforts to get the team to Sanya early. We had regular training sessions and a good friendly match, so we were able to face our first opponents in favorable condition.”
“The Philippines are a quality, strong Asian team. They have been in beach handball for years and have always achieved good results in various competitions. But today, the players implemented the plans we had in training and reiterated before the match very well on the court, and that allowed us to secure the 2-0 win,” added the Iranian coach.
Iran will play Sri Lanka on Friday in its second group outing. The group also features hosts China, as well as Bahrain, India, and Hong Kong.
“Sri Lanka is relatively unknown and has little track record in Asia. But we are gathering the necessary information, analyzing their matches, and then executing the required plans in training so that we can achieve our objectives in this match as well,” Qashqaei said of Friday’s opponent.
The top two teams in the group will advance to the final round, beginning with the semifinals next Tuesday.
Iran will be represented by 57 athletes across 10 sports – beach wrestling, beach volleyball, beach handball, beach soccer, jiu-jitsu, beach kabaddi, athletics, 3x3 basketball, sport climbing, and water polo. The Games officially began with the opening ceremony on Wednesday, returning after a decade-long hiatus following the 2016 edition in Da Nang, Vietnam.