1977 Asian Men's Handball Championship

The 1977 Asian Men's Handball Championship was the first Asian Championship, which took place from 26 March 4 April 1977 in Kuwait City, Kuwait. The games were played outside at the Al-Sadiq school station. The IHF was represented by president Paul Högberg, general secretary Max Rinkenurger and the Asian representative Kazumi Watanabe.^[1][2][3]

1977 Asian Championship

Tournament details
Host country	Kuwait
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Dates	26 March – 4 April
Teams	9 (from 1 confederation)
Final positions
Champions	Japan (1st title)
Runners-up	South Korea
Third place	China
Fourth place	Kuwait
Next →

Preliminary round

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Japan	4	4	0	0	121	53	+68	8	Semifinals
2	Kuwait (H)	4	3	0	1	83	66	+17	6
3	Palestine	4	2	0	2	82	83	−1	4
4	Saudi Arabia	4	1	0	3	63	90	−27	2
5	United Arab Emirates	4	0	0	4	53	110	−57	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
(H) Hosts

Games from Japan:^[4]

1977	Kuwait	20-11	Saudi Arabia	Kuwait City
		(6-4)

27 March 1977	Japan	27-13	Saudi Arabia	Kuwait City
	Fujinaka & Yuki Saito (5)	(15-5)

1977	United Arab Emirates	14-30	Palestine	Kuwait City
		(7-14)

1977	Kuwait	30-11	United Arab Emirates	Kuwait City
		(16-5)

1977	Palestine	Cancelled at 11-11	Saudi Arabia	Kuwait City

• At the score of 11-11 it began to rain and it was unplayable.

1977	Kuwait	16-14	Palestine	Kuwait City
		(7-3)

1977	Palestine	26-14	Saudi Arabia	Kuwait City
		(15-5)

• According to Japan: 25-14

30 March 1977	Japan	25-11	United Arab Emirates	Kuwait City
	Sato Kaname & Gamo 5	(10-6)

1 April 1977	Kuwait	17-30	Japan	Kuwait City
		(7-14)	Sato Kaname 7

1977	Saudi Arabia	25-17	United Arab Emirates	Kuwait City
		(8-5)

2 April 1977	Japan	39-12	Palestine	Kuwait City
	Gamo 9	(15-6)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Korea	3	3	0	0	81	52	+29	6	Semifinals
2	China	3	2	0	1	69	52	+17	4
3	Iraq	3	1	0	2	47	63	−16	2
4	Bahrain	3	0	0	3	47	77	−30	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

1977	Bahrain	19-28	China	Kuwait City
		(19-28)

1977	Iraq	18-28	South Korea	Kuwait City
		(11-17)

1977	South Korea	33-15	Bahrain	Kuwait City
		(5-17)

31 March 1977[5] 10:30	China	19-20	South Korea	Kuwait City
		(9-10)

1977	Bahrain	13-16	Iraq	Kuwait City
		(6-7)

1977	China	22-13	Iraq	Kuwait City
		(12-9)

Final round

	Semi-finals				Final
	A1  Japan	26
	B2  China	19
					A1  Japan	24
					B1  South Korea	14
	B1  South Korea	22
	A2  Kuwait	16
					Third place
					A2  China	38
					B2  Kuwait	16

Semifinals

3 April 1977 13:00	Japan	26–19	China	Kuwait City Referees: Abdallah al-Sar & Sanef al-Majideh (KUW)
	Sato Kaname (6)	(15-8)

---

4 April 1977[6]	South Korea	22–16	Kuwait	Kuwait City
		(11-8)

• According to Japan: 21-16

Bronze medal match

4 April 1977	China	38–25	Kuwait	Kuwait City
		(16-12)

Gold medal match

4 April 1977 13:00	Japan	24–14	South Korea	Kuwait City Referees: Rajab Mayyov & Hadi al-Mahdi
	3 players each 4	(13-6)

Final standing

Rank	Team
	Japan
	South Korea
	China
4	Kuwait
5	Iraq
6	Bahrain
7	Palestine
8	Saudi Arabia
9	United Arab Emirates

Team qualified for the 1978 World Championship

Top goalscorers

Rank	Name	Nationality	Goals
1	Kin Hyakku	China	31
2	Yoji Sato	Japan	30
3	Jungjeong Kyun	South Korea	28
4	Graeme	Kuwait	25
5	Haruaki Gamo	Japan	23
	Kim Sung Heon	South Korea

Source:^[3]