BEIJING, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese men's handball team will compete in their first-ever Olympic match here on Sunday, facing Poland in the first preliminary round of Beijing Olympic handball events.

    The Chinese men's team has been a minnow in the handball world and they get their Olympic ticket as the host. It will be the first time for them to compete in the Olympics.

    Drafted in Group A with Poland, France, Spain, Croatia and Brazil, the green-handed Chinese team, will treasure this chance to experience world top class competition and try their best to grab one victory.

    "European teams like Poland are very strong. It will be difficult for us to defeat them but we will never have us defeated easily," said Yan Weiming, coach of Chinese team in a recent interview.

    It has been 28 years since Polish men's handball squad last competed in Olympic Games. Their last show in the Olympic stage was in 1980 Moscow Games, when they finished 7th in 12 teams.

    After wining a bronze medal in 1976 Montreal Games, Poland rarely managed to make a dent in important international competitions.

    However, Poland surged back in the 2007 World Champion in Germany and soared to silver after many years during which they had been far behind the world's best.

    Twelve teams to participate in the men's handball event were divided into two groups. After five rounds of preliminaries, top four teams of each group will make it into the quarterfinals.