African U-18 champions Nigeria regroup for IHF Trophy Intercontinental Championship

Nigeria's under-18 male handball team are presently in an intensive camp in Lagos in preparation ahead of the IHF Inter-continental Championship which will hold in Costa Rica.

17 players are in the Lagos camo undergoing serious preparation ahead of the championship. Most of the players come from the the team that played in the Africa Zone 3 and the continental phase of the championship as well as new players.

The IHF Trophy intercontinental 2023 will hold in San Jose, Costa Rica from March 6 to 11, 2023 for its 5th edition of the championship organised by the International Handball Federation (IHF).

Nigeria, who are the Africa champions in the under-18 male category, will be participating in the championship for the second time in history after a narrow 27-26 defeat to Chinese Taipei 27-26 in the final in the 2019 edition held in Pristina, Kosovo.

Nigeria had qualified for the IHF Trophy Intercontinental 2023 after defeating Guinea 37-36 in the final of the IHF Trophy Continental Phase which held in Brazzaville, Congo earlier in the year.

Before then, they played in the Africa Zone 3 tournament of the competition in Ivory Coast, where they finished unbeaten in the championship, with their last loss coming in that game against Chinese Taipei in the 2019 edition of the Intercontinental championship in Kosovo.

The Coach Emeka Nnamani tutored side will be playing in a round robin competition against the likes of Georgia, Guadaloupe, Nicaragua and Tahiti with the first match slated for March 8, 2023 against Nicaragua.