GB to host handball Four Nations

Britain's women will be tested on home soil in October (Credit: A.Papadopoulos)

Great Britain will host a women's Four Nations Invitational Tournament in Sheffield in October.

The women's event will take place from 16-18 October and feature GB, Latvia, the Faroe Islands and Turkey.

Britain's men travel to Oman in October to take on their national side as well as other yet unconfirmed teams.

Neither Great Britain team will compete in the 2008 Olympics but the long-term goal is to field competitive sides at the 2012 Games in London.

The British women will face the Netherlands, Lithuania, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Greece in qualifying for the World Championship.

They have been drawn in group one, with the five games taking place from 25-30 November in an as yet undecided venue.

"The women's competition is always competitive, so regardless of which group we were drawn in we know it's going to be tough," said world class performance programme manager Lorraine Brown.

"We're up against it, but we're optimistic because every time we compete we learn new things and improve, so we're going into the event very positively, but recognise that it's going to be tough for us."