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

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

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

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Nigerian side did not have it easy as they were level 17-17 with Guinea after the game’s first half.

But they were steadfast and gained a one-point lead to win the game played at the Nicole Oba Gymnasium.

NAN reports that 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.