For Philippine handball, the road to the 2019 Southeast Asian Games starts on the sandy beaches of Lingayen, Pangasinan.
The sport is one of the showcase events in the inaugural Philippine Beach Games on April 28 and 29.
The meet will also include beach flag football, beach football, beach volleyball, beach ultimate frisbee, beach petanque, beach spike ball and beach netball.
“The objective is to boost awareness for the sport and hopefully gain grounds as we would like to be included in when the country hosts the SEA Games next year,” said Philippine Handball Federation (PHF) secretary general Ernesto Jay Adalem.
PHF assistant coach JC Pangilinan said four Manila-based teams and two local teams would see action in the beach handball tourney.
The country bagged a bronze medal in last year’s SEA beach handball championships held in Dumaguete after stunning Vietnam in the men’s open division.