Competition in the Emirates International Youth Handball Championship kicks off on Saturday, organised by the UAE Handball Federation in cooperation with Shabab Al Ahli Club. The tournament runs until 1 July and features four national teams — the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and the Sultanate of Oman — as part of the national teams' preparation programmes for upcoming continental competitions.
The UAE team opens its campaign with a tough encounter against their Bahraini counterparts in the second match of the opening day, while the first match brings together Qatar and the Sultanate of Oman. Strong competition and distinguished technical standards are expected among the participating teams.
The tournament had been set to include Morocco, but the Moroccan team withdrew at the last minute, leaving four Gulf sides — all of whom carry impressive records at youth-level competition — as the sole participants. This lends the tournament considerable technical significance and provides an ideal opportunity for the teams to gain experience ahead of upcoming official fixtures.
Competition continues on Saturday with two further matches, as the UAE face Qatar and Oman take on Bahrain. On the third day, the UAE meet the Sultanate of Oman while Bahrain and Qatar square off.
Tournament format
The first round will be played in a single round-robin format. Teams will have a rest day on 30 June before the tournament concludes on 1 July with two placement matches: the sides finishing third and fourth will meet to decide third place, while the top two finishers will contest the championship title.
Hosting the tournament forms part of the UAE youth team's preparation plan for the 19th Asian Men's Handball Championship for players under 20, scheduled to be held in the Chinese city of Zhucheng from 15 to 26 July 2026, with qualification places for the 2027 World Youth Championship in Macedonia on the line.
The UAE national team's technical staff, led by Portuguese coach Rolando Freitas, hope to extract maximum technical benefit from the tournament by assessing the players' physical and technical readiness and building cohesion within the squad ahead of the anticipated Asian challenge, through which the team aims to secure one of the World Championship qualification berths.
22-man squad
The UAE will contest the tournament with a 22-man roster comprising: Rashed Obaid Al Qars, Rashed Abdulrahman Al Qars, Iyad Tawkhi, Omar Naji, Mohammed Ali Eid, Mohammed Al Rifai, Mohammed Hassan Bu Alhoush, Ibrahim Shami, Mohammed Saif, Abdullah Al Obaidli, Abdulrahman Ghareeb, Mohammed Mustafa, Mahmoud Ryan, Nikola Vasiljevic, Omar Khalid Al Balushi, Moussa Mahkoum, Khalifa Hassan, Abdelnour Kallal, Mohammed Aziz, Jasim Habib, Mohammed Akram, and Karim Ahmed.
The technical staff are counting on this group of players to deliver strong performances throughout the tournament and to benefit from exposure to different technical schools of play, contributing to the team's overall readiness and helping them reach their best possible level before the Asian Championship gets under way in China next month.