Doha, January 04 (QNA) - The Qatar national handball team will face their Emirati counterparts in a friendly at Duhail Handball Sports Hall, Monday.

The match will be held in the context of preparing for the 22nd Asian Men's Handball Championship, to take place in Kuwait from January 15 to 26, and to serve as a qualifier for the 30th IHF Men's World Championship in Germany.

This friendly is one of a series of preparatory fixtures that the Qatari team will participate in as to reach the highest level of readiness ahead of the Asian Championship.

The draw placed Qatar in Group A alongside South Korea and Oman. Group B includes Bahrain, Iraq, China, and Jordan, while Group C comprises Kuwait, the UAE, Hong Kong, and India, and Group D includes Japan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Australia.

The teams finishing first and second in each group will qualify for the main round, which will feature eight teams divided into two groups playing in a round-robin format.

The top two teams from each of these groups will advance to the semifinals and will also qualify directly for the 30th IHF Men's World Championship.

Qatar seeks to retain their Asian title, having won the last six editions, and to qualify for the World Championship for the eleventh time.

The country's best-ever World Championship result was finishing second at the 2015 edition held here. (QNA)