TEHRAN – Iran were defeated against Japan 23-20 at the 2021 Asian Women's Handball Championship on Wednesday.

The Persians are scheduled to meet Kuwait on Thursday in Group B.

Jordan, Palestine and Syria also are in the group.

Group A consists of South Korea, Singapore, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Hong Kong.

The 2021 Asian Women's Handball Championship is being held from Sept. 15 to 25 in Amman, Jordan under the aegis of Asian Handball Federation.

It is the third time in history that the championship is organized by the Jordan Handball Federation.

 It also acts as the qualification tournament for the 2021 World Women's Handball Championship, with the top six teams from the championship directly qualifying for the event to be held in Spain.