Asian Women’s Handball Championship:
Iran calls up 19 players for Almaty showpiece
Iran’s women’s team began its final training camp on Saturday in Tehran for the upcoming Asian Handball Championship, with 19 players called up as part of preparations for the continental showpiece in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The 21st edition of the flagship continental event will kick off on November 23, with Iran drawn in Group A alongside Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Bangladesh.
Fatemeh Khalili, Elnaz Yarmohammadi, Zahra Afshari, Bahar Izadgashb, Hadiseh Norouzi, Aseman Badvi, Arezoo Kianiara, Fatemeh Merikh, Mehrban Badvi, Shahrzad Nasouhi, Mobina Hassannejad, Negar Zandeboodi, Saeideh Ghazanfari, Hanieh Karimi, Samin Karimi, Leila Hosseini, Elaheh Nikan, Elnaz Ghasemi and Maedeh Oshaghi have been named in the squad.
The Iranian team will open its campaign against Hong Kong on November 23 before facing 10-time silver medalist China the following day. It will then take on Bangladesh on November 25 and conclude its group-stage campaign against defending champion Japan on November 28.
The championship will also serve as the qualification event for the 28th IHF Women’s Handball World Championship, with the top four teams securing direct qualification for the global tournament, scheduled to be held in Hungary from November 30 to December 19 next year.