Asian Women’s U16 Handball Championship:
Iran to play Hong Kong in opener
Iran will be looking for a flying start at the inaugural Asian Women’s U16 Handball Championship when they take on Hong Kong in Almaty, Kazakhstan, today.
Featuring six teams, the tournament will be held in a round-robin format, with the top four in the table progressing to the semifinals.
The Iranian girls will face the host team in their second outing on Monday, followed by games against Uzbekistan and China on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. The final day of the league phase will see Iran square off against Kyrgyzstan on Friday.
As if the Iranian team needed added motivation to go all out for glory in Almaty, the event also serves as the qualification pathway for the inaugural IHF Women’s U16 World Championship, with the two finalists securing a place at the global showpiece, scheduled to take place from October 15 to 24. The host country of the world event has yet to be confirmed by the International Handball Federation.
Reihaneh Hosseini, Fatemeh Shafiei, Aysan Biglari, Tamana Aram, Negar Rezaei, Niayesh Mansouri, Hasti Mirakhori, Aida Arab, Fatemeh Orangi, Nazanin-Zahra Bahralou, Dina Dezfouli, Fatemeh Dehqani, Maryam Zamani, Zahra Rastad, Yasna Yazdani-Moqaddam, and Sarina Rafiei are the members of the Iranian squad in Almaty, with Sheida Fallahi in charge as head coach.
Despite a hampered buildup to the competition, caused by the wartime situation in the country – including damage to the national team’s training facilities in Tehran – the team will still hope to add further glory to Iranian women’s handball. The country enjoyed a gold-winning campaign at last October’s 2025 Asian Youth Games in Manama before claiming an impressive bronze medal at November’s Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh.