The Qatari national handball team will head to Bahrain on Friday to participate in the 16th Asian Handball Championship to be held in Manama, Bahrain from January 25, to February 06, 2014. The tournament acts as the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2015 World Men's Handball Championship in Qatar. Twelve teams will participation in the Asian tournament, as Qatar is pooled in group B beside Japan, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq and Oman, while group A includes, South Korea,  Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Uzbekistan, China and hosts Bahrain. Eleven teams vie for three tickets to Qatar, while the team of Qatar is already qualified as World Championship host. The Qatari team concluded their preparations for the championship by winning the first place at the 7th Qatar Friendly Handball Championship held from 13 to 15 January 2014. During four-nation tournament on home ground, Qatar defeated UAE, Iran and Bahrain. Earlier, Qatar claimed the third place at Handball Golden League in France. Source: Qatar Olympic Committee