Doha: Qatar beach handball team sealed their place in next year's World Games, courtesy to their dominance in Asia and a 10th place finish in the Men's Beach Handball World Championships which concluded in Pingtan Island, China today.
The 12th edition of the World Games will take place from 7 to 17 August 2025 in Chengdu, China with a total of 3,600 athletes representing 100 countries expected to participate in 34 disciplines during the extravaganza.
The six-time Asian champions Qatar will make their fourth appearance in the multi-sport event having secured a silver medal in Birmingham, Alabama, United States two years ago. They also won a bronze medal in Wroclaw, Poland in 2017 after they finished fourth in their debut appearance in 2013.
Al Annabi, who won the IHF Beach Handball Global Tour title last November at home, will hope for an improved show following their performance at the World Championships.
After clearing the preliminary stage in the Pingtan Island, Qatar failed to clear the Main Round and had to compete in classification matches. They eventually lost the Ninth-place match to Uruguay 1:2 settling on 10th place. They had defeated Tunisia 2:1 to secure the play-off on Saturday.
The best teams from their continents, who finished in the top 12 of the Beach Handball World Championships, have qualified for the World Games.
Besides hosts China and Qatar, the men’s beach handball event at the World Games will see Croatia, Denmark, Portugal, Germany, Brazil and Tunisia battling for top honours. Germany, Argentina, Netherlands, Denmark, Vietnam, Spain and Portugal apart from the home nation will compete for the women's title.
