TEHRAN – Iran discovered their opponents at the 20th edition of the Asian Men's Handball Championship on Monday.

In the draw ceremony held at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Dhahran, Saudi Arabi, Iran are pitted against hosts Saudi Arabia, Australia and India in Group B.

South Korea are in Group A along with Kuwait, Jordan and Singapore.

Defending champions Qatar have been drawn with the UAE, Iraq and Oman in Group C.

Group D consists of Japan, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

The competition was supposed to be held with 18 teams but Thailand withdrew from the event.

The 2022 Men's Handball Championship will be held in Dammam, Saudi Arabia from Jan. 18 to 31. The competition was originally scheduled to be held in Iran but Asian Handball Federation (AHF) decided to move the event to Saudi Arabia due to spread of COVID-19 in Iran.

It also acts as a qualification tournament for the 2023 World Men's Handball Championship, with top five teams from the championship directly qualifying for the event to be jointly hosted by Poland and Sweden.