The 24th ISF World Schools Handball Championships will begin today in Doha with the opening ceremony scheduled at Ali Bin Hamad al-Attiyah arena.
The Qatari boys are in Group A along with Denmark, Austria, Poland and Morocco. The hosts will open their campaign against Morocco tomorrow. Qatar School Sports Association (QSSA) Secretary General Ali Ahmed al-Hitmi said on Monday that everything was in place to host the championship till February 28 and will take place in three venues across Doha.
“QSSA has hosted big events before. And therefore there was an opportunity to host and embrace this tournament after the success of the World Handball championship couple of years ago. We’re proud to host the competition and look forward to an interesting championships. It’s a prestigious event for the schools and we look forward to it,” said al-Hitmi.
“Handball in Qatar has become a popular sport, especially after the national team has enjoyed success at the world level. And we hope through this tournament it will attract more children towards the sport. The QSSA’s goal is to promote sports in the schools. I’m confident the competition will be a good advertisement for the sport,” added al-Hitmi, who is also the President of Qatar Gymnastics Federation.
International School Sports Federation (ISSF) Deputy President Stelios Daskalakis, ISSF Technical Commission President Tom Christensen and tournament manager Abdulrahman al-Muftah were also present on the occasion.
Al-Muftah thanked the Qatar Olympic Committee for its support and was confident the Championship will be a huge success. “This is a great opportunity for school students to attend,” he said. “The competition will be in the morning and evening, which is a good time for students to attend, and an opportunity to encourage them to play the game,” he said. On the opening ceremony, al-Muftah said: “It will be a simple ceremony with participation of students from different schools in Qatar. The ceremony will emphasize the importance of sport, and handball specifically.”
ISSF’s Daskalakis said: “Qatar has the potential to host top international tournaments and had hosted the 2015 Handball World Championships. We always feel confident when Doha hosts a major competition. I hope the sport will get a major boost in the country.
ISSF Technical Commission President Tom Christensen revealed that the tournament will be live streamed on the Olympics channel website. “We are really looking forward to the championship. From December, we have been working together to organize the championship. There is excellent facilities and it’s only our duty make full use of it. I want to thanks the Qatar handball federation too. They have taken the planning to the next level,” Christensen said.
France, the tournament’s most successful sides with six titles and runners-up in the 2016 edition, are pooled with Croatia, Serbia, Iran and Bulgaria in Group C while Germany, Czech Republic, Romania and Georgia complete Group D.
In the girls’ tournament, which will be in its 23rd edition, defending champions Denmark, France, Croatia, Belgium and Georgia are in Group D.
Group A has Turkey, Germany, Romania and Bulgaria while Group B consists of Hungary, Austria, Serbia and Czech Republic. Slovenia, Brazil, Sweden and Greece complete Group C.
In recent years, the Qatar Olympic Committee has emphasised on holding tournaments for school children. The Qatar Sports School Federation’s School Olympic Program (SOP) has been a grand success. The 11th edition of the SOP was held last October, with 214 schools taking part in the championship, which was held for 11 disciplines.


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