Nigeria begin training ahead IHF tourney
Ahead of the IHF Trophy Africa Zone 3 Phase scheduled to be held later this month in Ghana, Nigeria U-18 and U-20 men handball national teams have resumed camp in Lagos.
The IHF Trophy Africa Zone 3 will be held in Accra, Ghana from February 20 to 24 and the Nigeria U-18 and 20 men team will be defending the title they won last year at the zonal level.
As they geared up for the competition, coach Emeka Nnamani and Fidelis Obi have both invited eighteen players each for the U-18 and U-20 teams respectively as training holds at the Rowe Park Sports Centre at Yaba, Lagos.
Tojemarine Academy’s Kareem Farouk, Yusuf Sulaiman of Rima Strikers and Mohammed Mustapha of Confluence Stars are some of the players that make up the U-18 men’s national team while Niger United’s John Shagari, Kareem Ajibike of Tojemarine Academy, Joseph Emmanuel of De Defenders and Ojo Olumide of Adidja Handball Club of Benin Republic make up the invited players for the U-20 men national team.
Both the country men’s team will be playing in a round-robin competition in the 2024 edition IHF Trophy Africa Zone 3 Phase with the U-18 team playing in the Youth category alongside Benin Republic, hosts Ghana and Togo while the U-20 team faces Benin Republic, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia and Togo in the Junior category.
Nnamani’s men will begin their campaign February 20 with a game against Benin Republic while Obi’s lads face Liberia in their opening game of the campaign.
The winners of each zone qualify for the Continental Phase while the winners of each Continental Phase qualify for the InterContinental Phase of the IHF Trophy to determine the final winners.
The best youth team in each competitive cycle will also qualify for the following Men’s Youth (U-19) World Championship.
Nigeria’s U-18 men’s team are the champion of the Youth IHF Trophy Africa Continental Championship and finished third in the intercontinental phase while the U-20 came second in the Continental phase.
