Following a busy 2025-26 season, the Parisian side had the chance to rest before returning to training on 22 July. Since then, Stefan Madsen’s men have been in the thick of an intensive pre-season programme. For the fourth summer in a row, the capital club has travelled to Japan to fine-tune their teamwork ahead of the resumption of competitive matches on Saturday 29 August, when they face Montpellier in the Trophée des Champions.
These first few days in Tokyo have been devoted to a series of training sessions, during which the Les Rouge et Bleu have had the chance to get to know their new team-mates, Rodrigo Corrales (who is making a return to the club six years after leaving), Frederik Ladefoged and Bjarki Elisson. Following training, as well as some downtime and socialising, the return to action is just around the corner, with a first friendly match against Zeekstar Tokyo.
Since its foundation in 2018, Zeekstar Tokyo has been making steady progress on the Japanese national scene. Driven in particular by former Parisian Luc Abalo during its early seasons (between 2021 and 2023), the Tokyo-based side quickly established itself as one of the best teams in Japan. Nevertheless, it has not yet managed to achieve its goal – the Japan Handball League title – which it is still chasing.
In the 2025-26 season, Zeekstar finished on the podium for the fourth consecutive season but fell at the semi-final stage of the play-offs. With a squad featuring several Japanese internationals who took part in the last World Championship in 2025, the club hopes to finally turn its fortunes around this season, and is counting on this high-profile clash against Paris Saint-Germain to help it prepare.
This isn’t the first time the two teams have faced each other, as this meeting with Zeekstar has become a regular fixture for les Rouge et Bleu since they began touring the Land of the Rising Sun. Last season, Paris emerged victorious after a very close match (36–35) in which Elohim Prandi shone particularly brightly, scoring no fewer than ten goals.
In 2024, the match was also a hard-fought affair, but the capital club managed to secure victory (31–29). This year, too, the two sides are set to go head-to-head in a thrilling contest. It will be an excellent warm-up for Stefan Madsen’s men, who are determined to be in peak condition for the matches at the end of the summer and the start of the EHF Champions League.
The match will take place at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo at 19:00 (12 noon French time) on Tuesday 4 August and will be streamed on Paris Saint-Germain Handball’s YouTube channel, as well as on PSG TV.
