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Saudi Arabia Qualifies for 2025 Junior World Handball Championship

The Saudi team's path to the world championship was sealed with a victory over Oman. (SPA)
The Saudi team's path to the world championship was sealed with a victory over Oman. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Qualifies for 2025 Junior World Handball Championship

The Saudi team's path to the world championship was sealed with a victory over Oman. (SPA)
The Saudi team's path to the world championship was sealed with a victory over Oman. (SPA)

The Saudi junior handball team secured qualification for the 2025 edition of the Men's Junior World Championship in Poland after their victory in the 18th Asian Men's Junior (U21) Handball Championship in Amman, Jordan.

The Saudi team's path to the world championship was sealed with a victory over Oman, defeating them with a score of 37-23 in the final round of Group 2. The championship was exclusively for players born in 2004 and later and runs until July 25.

The Saudi team solidified their place in the global tournament by advancing to the semifinals and securing a second-place finish in Group 2.

They overcame Oman in the third and final round, won over Iran in the previous match, but faced a setback in the first round against Japan.

This feat marks the Saudi junior team's fifth qualification for the World Championship after previous showings in 1979, 1997, 2017, and 2023.

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Paris Hopes Security Won't Spoil the Party at 2024 Olympics Opening

FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 21, 2024 A police officer and a sniffer dog inspect a swimming pool area ahead of the Olympics REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 21, 2024 A police officer and a sniffer dog inspect a swimming pool area ahead of the Olympics REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo
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Paris Hopes Security Won't Spoil the Party at 2024 Olympics Opening

FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 21, 2024 A police officer and a sniffer dog inspect a swimming pool area ahead of the Olympics REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Paris, France - July 21, 2024 A police officer and a sniffer dog inspect a swimming pool area ahead of the Olympics REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo

Paris makes final preparations for the Summer Olympics, the grand opening ceremony along the river Seine on Friday has created an unprecedented security challenge that organizers hope won't dampen the party vibe.
For the first time, a Games opening ceremony will not take place in a stadium. Instead, dozens of boats will carry thousands of athletes and performers on a 6-km (3.7-mile) floating parade down the Seine, showcasing the beauty and history of the French capital, said Reuters.
More than 300,000 people are expected to line both banks of the river to watch the ceremony - along with 45,000 police, including members of France's elite special intervention forces trained in counterterrorism.
Snipers will be deployed on the top of buildings along the route and an anti-drone system will be in place.
"There's a balance to be found between top security, which is absolutely the priority," Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, told a press conference on Sunday.
"It's part of the objective to guarantee the security and to propose a fantastic celebration of the Games... But to have this kind of unique celebration, you also need to have a very, very strong security plan. And that's the case."
The ceremony, which will start at 7:30 p.m. local time(1730 GMT), will be "a large fresco" celebrating Paris, France and the Games and will interweave the traditional parade by athletes with artistic performances and elements of protocol, said Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the opening ceremony.
With wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and security concerns at home, France is already at its highest level of security. The crowds set to descend on Paris will be in marked contrast to the atmosphere of the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 which played to empty arenas, and a year later than scheduled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
French officials have said there are no specific terrorism threats for the ceremony that will launch the Games in Paris, which run until Aug. 11.
However, should specific concerns arise, there are backup plans, that would either see the ceremony restricted to the Trocadero square near the Eiffel tower, or switched to the Stade de France stadium.