Kuwait completes preparations to host 19th Handball Championship
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 14, (KUNA): The Kuwait Handball Association (KHA) finished all preparations to host the 19th Asian Men’s Handball Championship (AMHC), hosted by Kuwait from January 16-27, with the participation of 13 teams.
In an interview with KUNA, KHA’s Secretary-General Qayed Al-Adwani said that the organizing committee completed all necessary preparations, adding that the competitions will be held in the main hall of the Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Complex for Indoor Sports at Sabah Al-Salem area.
In addition to Kuwait, the competing groups are Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Hong Kong, China, Iraq, Iran, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea, Al-Adwani pointed out.
The hall accommodates 4,000 people and contains over 2,000 parking lot spaces.
He thanked Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Mohammad Al-Jabri, Director General of General Sports Authority (GSA) Dr. Humoud Fulaiteh and Head of the Kuwait Olympic Committee (KOC) Sheikh Fahad Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah for the host while making the tournament a success.
The opening ceremony will be held under the patronage of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, showing the government’s eagerness and interest, he said.
On the preparations of Kuwait’s national team, Al-Adwani indicated that KHA organized training camps in Germany and Serbia, where matches held contained teams of Macedonia and Kosovo.
The national team was in the preliminary round against Iraq, UAE versus Hong Kong, Bahrain challenged New Zealand, Qatar versus China and Australia faced South Korea.
Kuwait won the championship title four times in the years 1995, 2002, 2004 and 2006 and hosted it twice in 1977 and 1995.
The significant tournament required four teams to qualify for the 2021 World Men’s Handball Championship, to be held in Egypt.