TEHRAN – Iran defeated the UAE 25-22 in Group I of the 2024 Asian Handball Championship on Sunday.

Team Melli had previously defeated New Zealand and China in the preliminary round but lost to South Korea 26-24, Japan 25-23 and Qatar 27-23.

Iran will play the third-place team of Group II for the fifth place on Monday.

The 2024 Asian Men's Handball Championship is the 21st edition of the championship started on Jan. 11 in Bahrain, under the aegis of Asian Handball Federation (AHF), and will run until Jan. 25.

It’s the third time in history that the championship is organized by the Bahrain Handball Federation.

It also acts as a qualification tournament for the 2025 World Men's Handball Championship, with top four teams from the championship directly qualifying for the event.