Molten to Launch Official Match Ball for the 2027 IHF Men's Handball World Championship with Limited Edition Design

Molten Corporation (Headquarters: Nishi-ku, Hiroshima; President and CEO: Kiyoshi Tamia, hereinafter Molten) will provide the official match ball with a tournament-limited design for the 2027 Men's Handball World Championship to be held in Germany from January 13 (Wed) to January 31 (Sun), 2027. The official match ball will be available for sequential sale starting Monday, September 28, 2026, at sports retailers nationwide and Molten's official online store.

As an official partner of the IHF (International Handball Federation), this marks Molten's seventh time providing the match ball for the IHF Men's Handball World Championship, beginning with the 2015 Qatar tournament. The tournament slogan is "Where handball is alive," expressing the deep-rooted handball culture in Germany, a country with high handball enthusiasm, and Germany's history of becoming world champions in 2007. The official match ball features a design exclusive to this tournament, primarily using the three colors of the host country Germany's national flag – black, red, and gold – along with the tournament logo.

Molten will continue to develop and provide superior products with optimal functions and designs that evoke various emotions through sports for everyone involved in sports, thereby realizing Molten's brand promise of "feel the emotion."

■ Product Features

1. Tournament-Limited Design

The official match ball boasts a design exclusive to this tournament, featuring the three colors of the host country Germany's national flag – black, red, and gold – as its base, along with the tournament logo and the slogan "Where handball is alive." The design is finished to express the dynamic movements and passion of handball through the tournament logo, and the fervor of Germany, where handball culture is deeply rooted.

2. Model Achieving Environmental Consideration and Enhanced Grip Compared to Conventional Specifications

Similar to the IHF-approved ball "A5000" announced in January 2024, this model enhances environmental load measures and grip.

1) Environmental Load Measures

By changing part of the materials from synthetic to natural, and reducing ink usage during printing, CO2 emissions have been reduced by 15% (*).

2) Improved Grip

The surface material has been made softer and more grippy than before, allowing fingers to penetrate the ball better and increasing the contact area (*).

(*) Compared to our conventional products.

■ Product Overview

■ About the 2027 IHF Men's Handball World Championship

Official Website of the 2027 Men's Handball World Championship

https://handball2027.com/en

Official Website of the IHF

IHF | Competition Home Page

■ About Molten's Sports Equipment Business

Molten's sports equipment business has been manufacturing and selling sports equipment, including competition balls for basketball, handball, soccer, and volleyball, since 1958, continuously enhancing its quality as a global standard.

The company aims to "create the best possible products and the best possible environment to bring out the genuine emotions that can only be felt through sports, realizing a world where sports are always by one's side," not only for players but also for everyone involved in sports (coaches, administrators, parents).

Molten Sports Equipment Business Official Website: https://www.molten.co.jp/sports/jp/

Molten Official Online Shop: https://shop.moltensports.jp/

■ Molten's Sports Equipment Business Initiatives on Social Issues

We aim to become a social brand that solves social issues through products and services, and conduct our business activities and product development accordingly. This includes the basketball brand "molten B+ (B-Plus)" aimed at promoting and strengthening basketball, the airless soccer ball "MY FOOTBALL KIT" which bridges the experience gap for children and serves as an educational kit, participation in "Arch to Hoop Okinawa," an organization working to resolve the experience gap between children and adults through basketball, and the "Keep Playing" initiative supporting women's sports under the slogan "Keep doing what you love. Keep playing sports." In addition, we are reviewing the materials of existing products and working on measures to address environmental impact.

■ Molten Corporation Company Profile

Starting with the manufacturing and sales of competition balls and automotive parts, the company has expanded its business by leveraging two core technologies: "hollow body technology" for adjusting internal air pressure, and "polymer chemistry" for handling high-molecular materials such as rubber and resins. Currently, in addition to the sports equipment business, including competition balls, and the automotive parts business, the medical and welfare equipment business contributes to society from both product development and academic research perspectives. The marine and industrial products business manufactures and sells elements that form social infrastructure, such as floating piers and bridge bearings, pursuing possibilities in various fields.

Location: 4-10-97-21 Kannnonshinmachi, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture

Established: November 1, 1958

Representative: Kiyoshi Tamia, President, CEO

Capital: 316.14 million yen

Employees: 674 (consolidated), 3,100 (group total including overseas) (as of September 2025)

Company Name Origin: "Molten" is the past participle of "melt," meaning "to dissolve, to cast," and also "to shed an old skin and take on a new one."

URL: https://www.molten.co.jp/

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