Paris Saint-Germain Handball continues to expand beyond France. Thanks to its Academy based in Qatar, the Club has helped nurture a new rising star in the form of Yassine Hfaiedh. From a very young age, he developed a passion for handball, eventually joining the PSG Academy Handball Qatar a few years ago. There, our young player continued to develop his skills over the years until he was called up by Qatar's U19 coach this summer to compete in the Asian Men's Youth Handball Championship in Amman, Jordan.
"I started playing handball when I was young and quickly became passionate about it. Joining PSG Academy Qatar helped me improve as a player and gave me the opportunity to develop and represent Qatar."
And so, over the course of around ten days, Yassine embarked on an extraordinary adventure - which quickly turned into a dream come true. The Qatari team turned the Princess Sumaya Hall into their fortress, maintaining a perfect record right to the end. After a preliminary round marked by victories over Saudi Arabia (30-22), Kuwait (30-19) and Iran (24-22), the Gulf team defeated Jordan in the quarter-finals (33-13), South Korea in the semis (32-28) and then Bahrain in the final (28-24) to claim their third continental title in this age bracket.
"It was a great experience," beamed Ben Hfaiedh, making no secret of his delight as he looked back on the journey. "When we arrived in Jordan, our goal was to win. We stayed together and gave our best in every game. Winning this title with my teammates is a moment I’ll never forget. We all worked hard, so lifting the trophy together was an amazing feeling."
On his return to the PSG Academy Handball Qatar, our Titi now hopes to "continue [his] development and keep working hard," possessed of a clear ambition to "be part of the Qatari national team that will compete in the 2027 World Cup" in Germany. And the dream is on the verge of becoming reality, with his national team potentially doing battle with the likes of Sweden, Norway, and Greece in the preliminary round.
