Pak handball team to leave on August 8

Asian Beach Youth Handball

KARACHI: Pakistan handball team will leave for Thailand on August 8 from Lahore to feature in the Asian Beach Youth Handball Championship which will be held there from August 10-16.

The touring party will include ten players and a couple of officials. The name of the captain is yet to be decided. The event is very important as the winners will qualify for the 2018 Youth Olympics to be staged in Argentina.

Beach handball has been included for the first time — in place of indoor handball — in the Youth Olympics.

The leading three outfits of the continental event will also make it to the 2017 World Youth Beach Handball Championship for which venue has not been decided.

Pakistan team has been preparing at Faisalabad for a couple of months. Pakistan Handball Federation (PHF) president Mohammad Shafiq told ‘The News’ that the boys had potential to win. “This is a new batch but the boys have spark and I hope they will deliver in Thailand,” Shafiq said.

He said that Qatar and a few other countries could be tough for Pakistan. “Qatar’s is a strong side because it includes many players from Europe. Iran, Thailand and Chinese Taipei are also strong teams. It will no doubt be a competitive event,” said Sahfiq, also the secretary of Asian Handball Federation (AHF). Players below 16 years of age can compete in the Asian Beach Handball Championship.