TEHRAN - President of Iran Handball Federation Alireza Pakdel said that booking a place in the main round of the 2023 IHF Youth World Championship is a great job.

Iran’s youth handball team defeated Burundi 46-24 on Saturday to book their place in the 2023 IHF Youth World Championship main round.

The young Persians had previously defeated Faroe Islands 29-27 in Group H and were held by Sweden, the third ranked team in the world, 26-26.

“It was a little hard to imagine that we made it to the next round from a group with teams like Sweden, Burundi and the Faroe Islands,” said Pakdel.

“Sweden are one of the biggest powers in the handball world but our team did a great job with the efforts of the players and the knowledge of the technical staff,” he added.

“We certainly have a difficult task in the main round, but I hope that with the abilities of the players, we can achieve more successes, even though we have already reached a huge achievement,” Pakdel said.

Iran will play against Saudi Arabia on Monday and will face Germany on Tuesday.

Pakdel talked about the Iran handball federation's ongoing project and its positive outcomes.

“Iranian handball has improved according to our plan and we are happy that Iran is now considered one of the respected teams in handball. This achievement is possible because of the dedication and hard work of everyone involved in the Iranian handball community, with great support from the Ministry of Sports and the National Olympic Committee. We hope to receive continued support in the future,” Pakdel concluded.