Oman youth handball team begins Asian Championship preparations in China

Oman's national youth handball team has officially commenced its final preparations for the Asian Men's Youth Handball Championship in Chuzhou, China. Upon arrival, the squad immediately focused on the competition, holding its first training session at the championship venue.

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The tournament was extremely valuable. We competed against teams with high-quality players. The UAE and Qatar included many naturalised players with strong experience, while Bahrain fielded players competing in their top domestic league. Those matches helped us raise our performance level.

Tunisian head coach Kamel Hadidder is concentrating on tactical preparations, particularly for Oman's opening match against Saudi Arabia. The sessions aim to refine attacking and defensive systems and make final adjustments. Hadidder noted that despite a limited six-week preparation window, the team has made significant progress.

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Those matches gave us confidence and helped us improve. The preparation was not perfect, but it was much better than entering the championship without strong competition.

The team's preparation included friendly matches against Yemen, which were not as competitive as hoped. This led them to seek stronger opposition in an international tournament in Dubai, where they faced the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain. Hadidder described these matches as extremely valuable, providing exposure to high-quality players, including naturalized athletes and those from top domestic leagues, which helped elevate their performance level.

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We reviewed Saudi Arabia's attacking and defensive systems and worked on the tactical solutions we will use in the opening match. I also reminded the players that they must play with personality, confidence and pride while representing Oman.

Following the Dubai tournament, Oman completed an intensive domestic training camp. The current training in China is heavily focused on analyzing Saudi Arabia's tactical approaches. Hadidder emphasized the importance of players competing with personality, confidence, and pride. He believes that discipline, collective spirit, and tactical preparation will be key to overcoming the challenges of a difficult group that includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and host nation China.

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The group is difficult, but we will rely on discipline, collective spirit and tactical preparation. We hope to achieve results that make everyone proud.