After defeating Benin Republic in Accra, Ghana, Nigeria’s U-18 girls were crowned champions of the IHF Women’s Trophy Africa Zone 3 Phase.
The fans at the Accra Sports Stadium’s Tennis Arena were in awe of coach Shittu Adewunmi’s girls as they easily won 42-17 over Benin Republic, with keeper Babatunde Kehinde named the Most Valuable Player of the Match for an outstanding performance.
She is the twin sister of Babatunde Taiwo, Nigeria’s first-match MVP against Liberia.
Thus, Nigeria qualifies for the IHF Women’s Trophy Continental Phase after winning four matches and losing none.
After an annihilating 61-16 victory over Liberia on day one, Nigeria’s U-18 girls team last Thursday earned another comfortable win over hosts Ghana in a thrilling match at the Tennis Arena of the Accra Sports Stadium.
They followed that up with another convincing 38-22 victory over Ivory Coast on Friday.
Nigeria’s Esther Matthew was voted as the Most Valuable Player of the championship while goalkeeper Precious Samuel was picked by organisers as the Best Goalkeeper of the competition.
President of the Handball Federation of Nigeria Samuel Ocheho, who is in Accra in his capacity as the president of IHF Africa Zone 3., said he was excited that the development programmes of the HFN to discover talents are yielding dividends.
“I am super excited that the programmes of the HFN to discover players through our underage competition are yielding dividends.
“This is a testament to the successes of our programmes and we will continue to ensure that we continue to development of the game and its continued growth,” Ocheho said.
Nigeria will represent Africa Zone 3 the continental phase of the IHF Trophy Africa phase in a yet-to-be-announced host country in a few months.