National handball team to challenge Thailand for IHF trophy

The national handball team wants to challenge Thailand's dominance in the International Handball Federation's (IHF) Asia Trophy for Zone 1B, which begins next Monday.

Malaysia Handball Federation president, Pandak Ahmad said the national team, which had a mixture of experienced and new talent, was expected to pose a big challenge to the defending champions.

"This time we are serious. We hope that one of our teams (either male or female) to be champions of the Asian Zone 1B," he told Bernama in an interview at the federation's headquarters in Taman Mutiara Rini, Skudai, recently.

He said since the tournament was first held in 2010, Thailand have remained as champions of the zone and are favorites for this year's championship too.

Pandak said at the Southeast Asia Handball Championship last year, Thailand beat the national team (men's category), 33-28.

The national squad is currently undergoing intensive training at a sports complex in Desaru, which began a month ago.

Four other countries besides hosts Malaysia and Thailand will also be participating, namely Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore.

The tournament will be held at the Educity Sports Complex in Nusajaya from Dec 8 to 12.

Meanwhile, Pandak said the current squad, which was formed based on results in the 1Malaysia National Handball League recently, will also serve as a benchmark for the team's ability, ahead of the Southeast Asian Games in Singapore next year.