TEHRAN – Iran will play Australia in their opening match of the 20th edition of the Asian Men's Handball Championship.

Iran will meet Australia on Jan. 18 in Group B at the Dammam Sports Hall, Dammam.

The Persians will also play India on Jan 20 and are scheduled to face Saudi Arabia on Jan. 22.

South Korea are in Group A along with Kuwait, Jordan and Singapore.

Defending champions Qatar have been drawn with the UAE, Iraq and Oman in Group C.

Group D consists of Japan, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

The competition was supposed to be held with 18 teams but Thailand withdrew from the event.

The 2022 Men's Handball Championship will be held in Dammam, Saudi Arabia from Jan. 18 to 31. The competition was originally scheduled to be held in Iran but Asian Handball Federation (AHF) decided to move the event to Saudi Arabia due to spread of COVID-19 in Iran.

It also acts as a qualification tournament for the 2023 World Men's Handball Championship, with top five teams from the championship directly qualifying for the event to be jointly hosted by Poland and Sweden.