TEHRAN - Iran women’s youth handball team will not take part in the 10th edition of the 2023 Asian Women’s Youth Handball Championship in India, announced by the Iranian Handball Federation.

Ten teams, including defending champions South Korea and hosts India, will participate in the competition, which will double up as an automatic qualifier for the World Youth Women’s Handball Championship, scheduled to be staged in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden from November 30 to December 17, 2023.

The draw for the 10th Asian Women’s Youth (U18) Handball Championship was held on May 2, 2023 at the Asian Handball Federation Headquarters, South Surrah, Kuwait.

Based on the draw, Group A comprises Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Rep. of Korea, China, and Nepal. In Group B, India, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Bangladesh, and Hong Kong will compete.

The Iranian girls made history by winning a gold medal in the 2022 Asian Women's Youth Handball Championship.

However, the country’s handball federation decided not to send the team to India.

“We are looking to send the high-quality teams in different women's handball competitions,” said a source close to the handball federation to the Tehran Times.

“It was decided by the federation to send the youth team, instead of the junior team, to the Asian Championship. It was because of the loaded schedule of the federation in terms of international competitions, and also it was because of the financial limitations of the handball federation,” he added.

“The current women’s youth team are mainly composed of the players who won the 2022 Asian Women's Youth Handball Championship and participated in the 2022 Women's Youth World Handball Championship in Georgia.

“Based on that, the board of directors of the handball federation decided to send this experienced team, now as the youth team, to the Asian competitions, instead of the current women's junior team.

“The youth team are currently in the preparation camp in the Handball Federation Hall. With various training camps, the Iran women's junior team will definitely have a powerful presence in Asia next year,” the source added.