Iran’s handball team defeated Oman’s national team in a friendly match which was part of four-nation handball cup underway in Doha, Qatar.
The tournament started on Sunday with Iran, Algeria, Oman and the host country in attendance, ISNA reported.
On the first day, Iran beat the Sultanate of Oman 32-24 and Qatar downed Algeria. Iran will face Qatar and Algeria.
The matches are a warm-up for the 18th Asian Men’s Handball Championship to be held in Suwon City, South Korea, January 18-28.
Iran, Japan and Uzbekistan are placed in Group A of the championship which is a qualifying tournament for the 2019 International Handball Federation World Men’s Championship. The international event will take place in Germany and Denmark, January 9-27, 2019.
A total of 24 teams from five confederations will take part in the world championship; six venues in Herning and Copenhagen in Denmark as well as Cologne, Munich, Hamburg and Berlin in Germany will host the games.
The best results achieved by Iran so far are the 2010 Guangzhou silver and 2006 Doha bronze medals in the Asian Games. The team finished third in the 2014 Manama Asian Championships. Slovenian coach Borut Maček is the head coach of the national team. The 51-year-old first took charge in 2010 and won silver in the Asian Games in China. However he was replaced by Croatian coach Ivica Rimanić the following year. Last November Maček reached a new agreement with the Iran Handball Federation to guide the national squad to the world games.
Add new comment
Read our comment policy before posting your viewpoints