Kuwait Youth Faces Japan in Asian Youth Championship

Kuwait will face Japan at 3:00 PM tomorrow Sunday in Group 2 of the 19th Asian Youth Handball Championship, which runs until July 26 in the Chinese city of Chuzhou. The tournament serves as qualifiers for the 26th IHF Men’s Junior World Championship (U-21), scheduled to take place from June 23 to July 4, 2027, in North Macedonia, with the top four teams qualifying for the World Cup.

The “Blue Youth” team is aiming for a second consecutive victory, avenging their opening-day 27-29 loss to Iran with a dominant 47-15 win over India. This result moves them to fourth place with two points from two matches.

Meanwhile, Japan enters the match with two points from three games, sitting in fifth place after losses to the United Arab Emirates (29-32) and Qatar (25-29), alongside a 47-14 victory over India.

Kuwait quickly regained their composure with a comprehensive 47-15 win over India, re-establishing themselves strongly in contention for one of the spots in the main round.

From the opening whistle, Kuwait imposed their dominance, securing their defense and exploiting counter-attacks and fast breaks. They ended the first half with a commanding 26-4 lead and maintained their superiority in the second half, which concluded 21-11, securing a well-deserved 32-goal victory.

Official statistics highlighted the significant technical gap between the two sides. Kuwait scored 47 goals from 62 attempts, achieving a 76% success rate, while India struggled offensively, managing only a 38% shooting accuracy due to Kuwait’s organized defense and constant pressure on key players.