Kuwait defeats China in the Asian Youth Championship

Kuwait officials announced that the national youth handball team secured a 36-31 victory over their Chinese counterparts on Saturday, in the classification matches for fifth to eighth place at the 19th Asian Youth Championship. The tournament, which serves as a qualifier for the 2027 World Championship in North Macedonia, kicked off in Suzhou, China, on July 15 and runs until July 27, featuring 13 national teams.

The Blue Team will face Chinese Taipei in their final match of the Asian Championship on Monday, in a contest to determine fifth and sixth place.

Earlier, the Blue Team missed out on a spot in the semifinals after losing to Saudi Arabia 23-25. The team faced difficulties due to physical exhaustion, having played five matches in six consecutive days, which significantly impacted their physical exertion. They were the only team that did not take a rest, unlike their competitors.

In this context, Secretary General of the Kuwait Handball Federation, Qa’id Al-Adwani, stated that the circumstances did not favor the national team, particularly given the new and innovative tournament format. He said, “We apologize to Kuwaiti handball fans and look forward to overcoming difficulties and achieving our ambitions in the future. We played five consecutive matches over six days, and no tournament in the world imposes playing five matches in just six days.”

Al-Adwani praised the players’ performance throughout the championship, emphasizing that the objective of tournaments at various age levels is to prepare and train successful generations that contribute to achieving future accomplishments.