Qatar started their defence of the Asian Men's Handball Championship with victory over New Zealand ©Getty Images

Defending champions Qatar defeated New Zealand 14-58 in their first match of the 2018 Asian Men’s Handball Championships at the Seo-Suwon Chilbo Gymnasium in Suwon.

The Qataris dominated throughout their match in the South Korean city and put up a particularly good defensive display in the second half, conceding just three goals whilst scoring 31 of their own.

Hosts South Korea, winners of the Championships a record nine times, defeated Bangladesh 46-20.

Bahrain, runners-up at the last Asian Men’s Handball Championships in 2016, recorded a 33-10 victory over Australia.

Other matches today saw Japan beat Uzbekistan, 38-27, United Arab Emirates defeat India 41-23 and Saudi Arabia get the better of China by a 30-24 scoreline.

The top two in the four groups will qualify for the second set of group games, due to start next Monday (January 22).

Norway defeated Serbia in the first match of the main round at the European Men's Handball Championship ©Getty Images
Norway defeated Serbia in the first match of the main round at the European Men's Handball Championship ©Getty Images

The action also continued in the African Men’s Handball Championship in Gabon with Egypt, the defending champions, keeping up their good form from yesterday by beating Nigeria 27-22 at the Le Palais des Sports de Libreville.

Elsewhere, Angola defeated Democratic Republic of Congo 28-23 and Tunisia beat Cameroon 32-26.

The top four from each group will reach the quarter-finals.

Only two matches took place at the European Men’s Handball Championship today in Croatia as the main round got underway with Norway defeating Serbia 32-27 at the Arena Zagreb before the hosts sneaked past Belarus by a close 25-23 scoreline in front of a partisan crowd of 8,100 at the same venue.