WEST ASIAN WOMEN’S HANDBALL STARTS THURSDAY

The 2nd West Asian Women’s Handball Championship will kick off tomorrow at Princess Sumaya Hall in Al Hussein Youth City.
Running until February 21, the tournament is welcoming the best six teams from across the region with Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Qatar all hoping to upstage hosts Jordan.
The championship manager, Zein Eldein Abdeen declared to the www.joc.jo that arrangements are complete and teams are fully prepared for the event.
"We have been preparing for this event since we announced to host it, so we renewed some facilities at Princess Sumaya Hall, including the VIP lounge and changing rooms to bring it up to standards,” he said.
The federation has been marketing the event across the kingdom, so is hoping that it is well supported from the public.
"We want this tournament to create more awareness about handball and to encourage more women and girls to play the sport. Perhaps it will open the door to more Asian events in the future."
Iraq will meet Iran in the opening match tomorrow at 3pm followed by Jordan taking on Lebanon at 5pm and Qatar against Syria at 7pm.