The Asian Handball Federation (AHF) is pleased to announce that the draw ceremonies for the 19th AHF Asian Men’s Junior Handball Championship and the 11th AHF Asian Men’s Youth Handball Championship will be conducted on Wednesday, 13 May 2026 at 11:00 hrs. (Kazakh local time) in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The draw ceremonies will take place at the Hotel Royal Tulip, bringing together representatives of participating teams to determine the group compositions for both competitions.
The 19th AHF Asian Men’s Junior Handball Championship is scheduled to be held from 15 to 26 July 2026 in Chuzhou, People’s Republic of China. The championship will serve as the qualification event for the 26th IHF Men’s Junior (U21) Handball World Championship, with the top four (4) teams securing direct qualification for the global tournament scheduled to be held from 23 June to 4 July 2027 in North Macedonia.
Meanwhile, the 11th AHF Asian Men’s Youth Handball Championship will take place from 10 to 21 August 2026 in Andijan, Uzbekistan. The championship will serve as the qualification event for the 12th IHF Men’s Youth (U19) Handball World Championship, with the top four (4) teams securing direct qualification for the global tournament scheduled to be held in July/August 2027.
The draw pots for the 19th AHF Asian Men’s Junior Handball Championship are as follows:
Level 1: P. R. China, Japan, Republic of Korea, Bahrain
Level 2: Saudi Arabia, I. R. Iran, Kuwait, Oman
Level 3: Chinese Taipei, Qatar, India, Hong Kong-China
Level 4: United Arab Emirates
The draw pots for the 11th AHF Asian Men’s Youth Handball Championship are as follows:
Level 1: Uzbekistan, Japan
Level 2: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
Level 3: Bahrain, I. R. Iran
Level 4: Qatar, Chinese Taipei
Level 5: P. R. China, United Arab Emirates
Level 6: Hong Kong-China
The AHF looks forward to a successful draw event in Almaty and anticipates a highly competitive championship in Chuzhou and Andijan, as Asia’s top junior and youth teams compete for continental honours and qualification to the world stage.