The 2018 CAHB Men’s African Youth (U19) Championship concluded in Marrakech, Morocco, on Saturday with Egypt gaining revenge over Tunisia in the final match to take the continental title in the round-robin tournament.

 

After four days of action, reported earlier on IHF.info, the final three match days took place as Egypt ended up going into the very last match – match 22 – of the championship against Tunisia knowing whoever won would finish top of the group to claim regional bragging rights.

 

Both North African teams had gone into their final game on 10 points each having won all five of their previous matches against the other teams in Marrakech – hosts Morocco (MAR), Algeria (ALG), Mauritania (MTN), Nigeria (NGR) and Guinea (GUI).

 

In a relatively low-scoring game, Egypt led by four at the break (10:6) before extending the difference by the final buzzer to six (22:16).

 

At the other end of the table it was a harsh lesson for Mauritania in Morocco, who finished rock-bottom, losing all six of their games, conceding 393 goals and scoring just 64 times. Their final two games were against the top two teams and they did not go easy as Egypt won 93:16 and Tunisia won 81:10.

 

However, the real story was the battle for not only bronze, in third, but the final qualification place through to the 2019 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship which will be held in FYR Macedonia next

year.

 

Going into the final round of matches, Nigeria were third on six points with Algeria and Guinea on four. Guinea played Nigeria in the first of the three final day matches and knew that a loss and Algeria win against Morocco would have meant a mini-league with all three teams on six points each, but the calculators were not needed as Nigeria scraped a 24:24 draw after being up by five (15:10) at the break.

 

That point put them up to seven which was enough to seal their bronze medal and path to FYR Macedonia.

 

Final Ranking

1. Egypt

2. Tunisia

3. Nigeria

4. Algeria

5. Guinea

6. Morocco

7. Mauritania

 

Egypt, Tunisia and Nigeria all qualify through to the 2019 IHF Men’s Youth World Championship, which will be held in FYR Macedonia.

 

Results

 

Saturday 15 September

EGY vs NGR 30:17 (7:9)

TUN vs ALG 31:26 (14:13)

MAR vs MTN 10:0 (Forfeited by MTN)

 

Sunday 16 September

GUI vs TUN 22:34 (14:13)

ALG vs MTN 82:7 (42:2)

EGY vs MAR 32:17 (13:9)

 

Monday 17 September

NGR vs ALG 32:31 (14:16)

MTN vs GUI 15:78 (6:36)

MAR vs TUN 17:25 (9:12)

 

Tuesday 18 September

ALG vs EGY 24:35 (11:19

NGR vs MTN 49:16 (23:6)

MAR vs GUI 19:24 (7:15)

 

Wednesday 19 September

Rest Day

 

Thursday 20 September

EGY vs MTN 93:16

ALG vs GUI 36:25

TUN vs NGR 29:28

 

Friday 21 September

EGY vs GUI 36:24 (16:9)

TUN vs MTN 81:10 (40:8)

MAR vs NGR 25:33 (10:15)

 

Saturday 22 September

GUI vs NGR 24:24 (10:15)

ALG vs MAR 38:20 (21:7)

TUN vs EGY 16:22 (6:10)