Australia and Fiji will throw off the first-ever Oceanian Senior Women’s Handball Championship at Wellington’s Ä€kau Tangi Sports Centre on Thursday.
Seven national teams will be competing for the top title and the chance to qualify for the Women’s Asian Championship later this year. It is the next step up for qualifying for the World Championship.
New Zealand will be joined by Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, New Caledonia and Tahiti.
The events are part of the International Handball Federation’s annual schedule for 2026.
Australia and Fiji throw off at 3.30pm, with New Zealand taking on Cook Islands, while New Caledonia will face Tahiti in the other two matches on day one.
New Zealand Handball said they are proud to host the first ever Oceania senior women’s Handball tournament.
“We are delighted to welcome six other nations from the Oceania Continent Handball Federation to join the New Zealand team to take part in this event,” New Zealand Handball said.
“This will be the largest international tournament we have hosted since the 2014 IHF Trophy, and this one is shaping up to be just as epic.”
The opening welcome will take place at 2:30pm on Thursday, 10 September, with games from 3:30pm daily on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Matches on Sunday and Monday will throw off at 8:45am, with the final to determine the inaugural champion Oceania senior women’s handball team for 2026 throwing off at 1pm on Monday.
Kiribati arrived in Wellington at the weekend, while Australia and Tahiti arrived on Tuesday.
The Cook Islands team will be competing in their first tournament after 24 years.
Captain Jeniffer Akavi and vdeputy Titifa Kae will jointly-lead the team, under coach Peter John.
The side left Rarotonga on Tuesday.
The Fijian side flew out of Nadi on Wednesday morning.
