With low popularity, stumbling international performances and a dearth of promising youngsters, Chinese handball is falling behind in the world.

The Good Luck Beijing 2008 Handball Tournament, an Olympic rehearsal, that was held from January 5 to 11, failed to attract much public attention, indicating the game itself is struggling in China.

A Beijing handball player blocks her Jiangsu opponent during the women's final at the Good Luck Beijing Handball Invitational Tournament on Saturday. Jiangsu defeated Beijing 29-24. [Xinhua]

The stadium was half empty since the opening round of the eight-team tournament last Saturday. The post-match conferences also featured vacant seats and an embarrassing shortage of questions.

Li Zhiwen, the handball competition manager of the Beijing Olympics organizing committee, said a lack of public attention is one of the serious problems facing Chinese handball.

"Chinese handball does not have a solid public basic. Moreover, our training level is far behind European traditional powerhouses. It's difficult for the national teams to make a dent in international events," Li said.

Chinese handball seems to have outlived its glory years of the 1980s. The men's team cruised to the title of the Asian Games in 1982 and the female team claimed the Olympic bronze in Los Angeles in 1984.

But a huge gap in training levels has gradually affected the team's results. Since the 1990s, Chinese national teams have been unable to regain continental dominance, let alone find success on the international stage.

The Chinese Handball Association's attempt to professionalize the sport failed due to a lack of sponsorship support in 2004, and chances for Chinese handball to rejuvenate look slim.

A lack of talented young players is another problem for the development of Chinese handball. In the strongest handball countries players are trained at a very early age. But in China, with strength and height being the priorities, young players are chosen from basketball teams when they know almost nothing about handball. These "second-hand" players have to spend much time learning the rules and fundamental skills instead of tactics.

According to Peng Ning, general secretary of the Chinese Handball Association, most of the Chinese handball players are selected from youth basketball teams at the age of 15.

"When the players retire at around 25 or 26, they only have played handball for 10 years. But a good handball player at least needs 15 years to grow mature."