It was a positive start for the Nigeria’s U-18 male handball team at the International Handball Federation (IHF), Challenge Trophy Continental Phase in Brazzaville, Congo.
The Nigeria Under 18 team under the managed by Coach Emeka Nnamani had comfortably win over Burundi 45–30 goals on Match Day 1. At the halfway point it was 20–10 in favour of Nigeria.
In another U-18 outing Guinea cut Zambia to size by 46–19 goals. Before the break, the boys from Lusaka were already 18–10 ahead.
In the U-20 category, Rwanda and Guinea enjoyed a sweet opening day wins over Madagascar and Nigeria.
Rwanda U20 male national handball team on Monday started their campaign with a convincing 50-29 win over Madagascar during the opening game held in Brazzaville, Congo Republic.
Antoine Ntabanganyimana’s boys, who are competing in the junior category (U20), won the first half of the game 24-15 before adding 26 more in the second half against the Madagascans’ 14 to take home a comfortable win.
Rwanda returns to action on Tuesday as they look set to take on hosts Congo Brazzaville before going head to head with Guinea the following day.
Rwanda will face Nigeria on January 19 before concluding their tournament playing Zimbabwe on January 20.
Meanwhile, it was a bad day in the office for Nigeria’s U-20 as they went down to their West African neighbours, Guinea.
The Nigeria’s Under 20 team came up short as they lost narrowly to Guinea 28-26.
Halftime scores 9–11 in favour of Guinea.