The I IHF Men’s Inter Continental Challenge Trophy is over and Finland is the deserved winner of this competition. Throughout the event, they were the most consistent team and managed to clearly win all of their five games. Their last match against Australia brought them another easy victory, but what was new is that in this match, the handball world had the chance to see a completely different Australia. A team determined to win, and fighting for every ball until the very end.  The end result: Australia vs. Finland 21:32 (10:16).

The second match of the night however was much more interesting, since it directly decided about the winner of the bronze medal. The host team of India, cheered by approximately 1,000 spectators in the SMS Indoor Stadium in Jaipur, tried to take on the physically incredibly strong team of Benin which presented themselves in a very positive way at the Inter Continental Challenge Trophy. The team of Benin, in the end led by Akoze Romaric with 9 goals, won the match by 36:28 (18:12), and in that way secured the bronze medal.

Mr. Miguel Roca Mas (ESP), the 1st Vice President of the International Handball Federation, delivered the trophies and the medals to the winners on behalf of the IHF.


FINAL RANKINGS

1.    Finland 8 pts.
2.    Venezuela 6 pts.
3.    Benin 4 pts.
4.    India 2 pts.
5.    Australia 0 pts.


ALL STAR TEAM:

Best Goalkeeper:  Kristoffer KARLSSON (AUS)
Best Left Wing: Romaric AKOZE (BEN)
Best Pivot: Jose VILLEGAS (VEN)
Best Right Wing:  Carlos La Cruz Fernandez (VEN)
Best Left Back: Nico Ronnberg (FIN)
Best Center Back: Benny BROMAN (FIN)
Best Right Back: Shamsher Singh (IND)


Most Valuable Player: Joacim BROMAN (FIN)
Top Scorer: Romaric AKOZE (BEN) 31 goals