IHF Challenge: Nigeria claims u-18 title, u-20s narrowly miss out

The national under-18 male handball team have qualified for the IHF Trophy Intercontinental Championship with a hundred 100% record.

Coach Emeka Nnamani's side had to dig deep to see off a spirited Guinea after a 37-36 win in the final game.

The Nigerian youngsters needed just a draw to seal to win the title while their rivals needed a victory.

It turned out to be a fierce battle between the two nations who were tied at 36:36 in the last minute before Nigeria scored the winner and secured the title.

With the result, Nigeria has qualified for the intercontinental championship in the youth category (under-18) without losing a match as they maintained 100% record from the Africa Zone 3 tournament in Ivory Coast till the final of the continental championship in Congo.

They are also back-to-back champions of the IHF Challenge Trophy Continental Tournament as they also won it in 2018.

Meanwhile, their senior colleagues, the under-20s, were not so lucky to get a ticket for the Intercontinental championship.

In the under-20 category (Youth), Nigeria emphatically defeated host Congo 37-18 to end the tournament on a high.

However, despite the excellent display and win, it was not enough as coach Fidelis Obi and his team lost out to Guinea on the head-to-head rule.

Guinea and Nigeria were tied on eight points in the end after Guinea also won their game against Madagascar 51:32.

But the Guineans took the title, as they had earlier beaten Nigeria in a direct duel (28:26), the under-20's only defeat in the competition.

This confirms that Guinea will represent Africa in the under-20 category of the intercontinental championship.