2018 beach handball World championships: half a thousand athletes to compete for gold
The capital city of Tatarstan hosts the Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships on July 24-29. About 500 athletes from 24 countries are expected to participate in the tournament. Again Kazan will become a pioneer in a relatively new sport – for the first time Russia will welcome the Beach Handball World Championships.
The inaugural tournament was held in Egypt in 2004, and since then the World Championships has been organised by the International Handball Federation (IHF) every two years. Those first world championships became highly successful for Russians – women took gold and men finished third.
Russia has never played host to the competitions in the 14-year history of the world championships, so the upcoming championships in Kazan will become special for both the host country and the athletes.
Representatives of 24 countries will come out onto the pitch of the Kazan Beach Sports Centre in 70 Sibgata Khakima Street – 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams will fight for the world crown. Croatia and Brazil are the most successful among the men’s sides. Both powerhouses have taken part in all the previous world championships. The Kazan edition will be Number One for the men’s teams from New Zealand, Sweden and Vietnam.
Only Brazilian women’s team has never missed a chance to qualify for the all the preceding world championships, however the upcoming tournament will feature a lot more debut competitors such as Greece, France, Vietnam, Paraguay, USA and Mexico.
The drawing of lots for the group stage of the 2018 Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships in Kazan took place on May 15. The women’s team of Russia joins Group C along with Team USA, Team Brazil and Team Thailand, and the Russian men play against Americans, Brazilians and Swedes in Group D.