DOHA (Qatar): Asian champions Qatar will face Angola in their first match of the 27th World Handball Championship tomorrow.
The tournament kicks off in Egypt today.
Qatar face Japan on January 17 followed by a match against Croatia on January 19.
The Qatar Handball Association (QHA) President Dr Ahmad Mohamed Al Shaabi said that Qatar will be aiming to top the preliminary group.
“We must aim to win the three matches in the first phase because any loss will make our mission difficult in the second round. Therefore it is important to lead the group in order to maintain our chances and rhythm in the second stage,” said Dr Al Shaabi. “Despite the difficulties we have faced in our preparation, nothing can diminish our desire to achieve better results.”
In recent years, Qatar have established themselves as the dominant Asian force. Qatar have won the Asian title thrice and reached the World Championship final on home soil in 2015.
“We wanted to play a big number of friendly matches against strong teams, but we were not able to do so due to the COVID-19 situation. The matches that the national team played were limited. We played friendly matches against Tunisia, Argentina and Spain,” added Dr Al Shaabi.
