Kuwait's U-23 team loses to South Korea in the Asian Championship

Kuwait lost to South Korea 28-34 on Monday, in the Group 2 matches 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 World Men’s U21 Championship, scheduled to take place from June 23 to July 4, 2027, in North Macedonia, with the top four teams qualifying for the World Cup.

This was the second defeat for the “Youth Blues,” following their initial 27-29 loss to Iran at the tournament’s outset. Kuwait had secured two victories, against India 47-15 and Japan 30-29, leaving them with four points from four matches in fourth place.

Meanwhile, South Korea claimed their fourth consecutive victory, moving to the top of the standings with eight points, one ahead of the United Arab Emirates, which recorded a dominant 52-21 win over India. The losers remain winless in seventh place.

In the same group, Japan secured a valuable 28-27 victory over Iran, raising their tally to four points from five matches and keeping them in fifth place.

In the penultimate round of the group stage, Kuwait will face Qatar at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, before concluding their campaign against the UAE on Wednesday.

Separately, the Bahrain Handball Federation announced it will officially host the 42nd Gulf Club Champions Cup tournament in Manama from November 19 to 28 next year.

The competition was originally scheduled for March but was postponed due to the security situation at the time.