TEHRAN – Iran will kick off the 2020 Asian Men's Handball Championship with a match against New Zealand on Friday.

Team Melli will play New Zealand in Group A at the Shaikh Saad Al-Abdullah Sports Hall Complex in Kuwait City and face Bahrain a day later.

Group B consists of Qatar, Japan and China.

South Korea, Australia and Saudi Arabia are in Group C and Kuwait, Iraq, the UAE and Hong Kong are drawn in Group D.

The 2020 Asian Men's Handball Championship will be the 19th edition of the championship held under the aegis of Asian Handball Federation at Kuwait City, Kuwait from Jan. 16 to 27.

 It acts as the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2021 World Men's Handball Championship in Egypt.