Nigeria’s under-18 male handball team qualify for IHF Intercontinental Championship

Nigeria’s national under-18 male handball team have qualified for the International Handball Federation (IHF) Trophy Intercontinental Championship.

The team qualified after beating their Guinean counterparts 37-36 in their final match on Friday to end the competition in Brazzaville, Congo unbeaten.

The Nigerian side did not have it easy as they were level 17-17 with Guinea after the game’s first half.

However, they gained a one-point lead to win the game played at the Nicole Oba Gymnasium.

The team have maintained a 100 per cent record in their performance from the Africa Zone 3 tournament in Côte d’Ivoire.

They had defeated Burundi in their first match 45-30, before beating hosts Congo 28-22 on match day 2 and Zambia 55-16 on match day 3.

On the other hand, their under-20 counterparts were however not as lucky in spite of defeating hosts Congo 37-18 on Friday.

The victory was not enough for them to advance as they lost to Guinea on the head-to-head rule.

The national under-20 side had lost to Guinea 26-28 in their first game, defeated Madagascar 51-30 in their second and beat Zimbabwe 50-19 in their third game.

The IHF Trophy Continental phase competition which started on Monday ended on Friday.

NAN/Emmanuel Ukoh