The intercontinental phase of the IHF Challenge Trophy for men’s U-21 and U-19 takes place from March 7 to 11 in San Jose (Costa Rica). Africa is represented in the Youth category by Nigeria and by Guinea in the Junior category. For their first competition, the African ambassadors have made a perfect start.
Guinea against Cuba in the BN Arena won 35-32. Cece Jonas (elected man of the match) and his teammates were already leading at halftime 19-16. Coach Malick’s men maintained the impetus while creating the gap till the end of the game 35-32.
Nigeria, for its part, obtained a victory against Nicaragua for its first time in the competition. The score that ended the game was 46-30. Emeka Nnamani’s team had a lot of energy and desire to win and won the first half with a score of 19-9. The second half was slightly more complicated for Nigeria but the Nigerian coach’s tactics allowed Ahmed Lawal and Olawale Ajibike to win the game with a 27-21 result.
