18 men’s and women’s club teams from across Africa finished the 40th edition of the CAHB African Championship of Champion Clubs – also known as the African Champions League – late on Sunday in Abidjan, the capital of Cote d’Ivoire, and it was two familiar teams who took the anniversary title.

Both the 2017 women’s winners Primeiro (Angola) and men’s champions, Zamalek (Egypt), won the title again after topping their preliminary groups and winning their quarter, semi and final matches.

The end of the group stages had seen Al Ahly lead men’s group A with four wins from four and Zamalek lead top group B with three wins from three. The women’s competition featured Petro finishing top with eight points from four wins in their four games and Primeiro finish with three wins from three.

After beating Red Star (34:21) in the quarter-finals and JSK (30:25) in the semi-finals, Zamalek faced fellow countrymen Al Ahly in the final, and won 27:25 after leading by the same difference at the break (13:11).

Primeiro de Agosto beat Heritage in their quarter-final easily 35:17 and then ABO Sport in their semi-final easily 22:13. They then faced fellow Angolans, Petro, in the final, dispatching them 25:21.

The men’s teams were: Al Ahly (Egypt), Phoenix (Gabon), FAP (Cameroon), Red Star (Cote d’Ivoire) and USFA (Burkina Faso), Zamalek (Egypt), Raja Agadir (Morocco), JSK (DR Congo) and GSP (Algeria).

The teams in the women’s competition were: Petro (Angola), ABO (Congo), Bandaman (Cote d’Ivoire), HC Heritage (DR Congo), Dynamique (Cameroon), Primeiro (Angola), FAP (Cameroon), Africa (Cote d’Ivoire) and HC Vainqeur (DR Congo).

RESULTS

Friday 19 October

Men’s Competition
Al Ahly vs FAP 24:17 (13:7)
JSK vs GSP 18:21 (11:9)
Red Star vs USFA 30:29 (15:13)

Women’s Competition
ABO Sport vs HC Heritage 25:23 (13:9)
Bandama vs Dynamique 19:27 (8:13)

Saturday 20 October

Men’s Competition
Zamalek vs Raja 31:23 (15:8)
Phoenix vs Red Star 27:25 (14:14)
FAP vs USFA 33:18 (15:10)

Women’s Competition
Africa vs HC Vainqueur 29:22 (14:11)
Primeiro vs FAP 27:16 (14:8)
ABO Sport vs Dynamique 24:21 (12:13)
Petro vs HC Heritage 31:22 (16:11)

Sunday 21 October

Men’s Competition
Phoenix vs USFA 29:19 (13:13)
Al Ahly vs Red Star 34:21 (13:11)

Women’s Competition
Petro vs Dynamique 27:16 (10:9)
ABO Sport vs Bandama 21:20 (9:10)

Monday 22 October

Men’s Competition
Raja Agadir vs JSK 19:24 (8:8)
Al Ahly vs USFA 36:15 (18:7)
GSP vs Zamalek 27:31 (14:13)
Phoenix vs FAP 18:29 (11:14)

Women’s Competition
Primeiro vs HC Vainqueur 33:12 (21:5)
Petro vs Bandama 29:23 (15:9)
HC Heritage vs Dynamique 21:26 (11:14)
FAP vs Africa 30:20 (16:9)

Tuesday 23 October
Rest Day

Wednesday 24 October

Men’s Competition
Al Ahly vs Phoenix 28:20 (16:9)
Zamalek vs JSK 28:24 (17:12)
Raja Agadir vs GSP 24:25 (12:14)
FAP vs Red Star 32:20 (15:10)

Women’s Competition
Primeiro vs Africa 34:16 (16:7)
Bandama vs HC Heritage 25:26 (11:11)
FAP vs HC Vainqueur 35:19 (16:9)
Petro vs ABO Sport 29:15 (14:9)

Thursday 25 October

Quarter-Finals

Men’s Competition
FAP vs JSK 27:28 (10:12)
Al Ahly vs Raja 31:20 (16:10)
Zamalek vs Red Star 34:21 (19:11)
GSP vs Phoenix 24:20 (15:9)

Women’s Competition
Petro vs HC Vainqueur 33:16 (15:5)
Primeiro vs Heritage 35:17 (18:10)
FAP vs Dynamique 28:25 (17:9)
ABO Sport vs Africa 24:21 (15:11)

Friday 26 October

Men’s Competition
5-8 Placement Round: Raja vs Phoenix 25:22 (11:11)
5-8 Placement Round: FAP vs Red Star 28:24 (15:13)
Semi-Final: Al Ahly vs GSP 27:20 (14:8)
Semi-Final: JSK vs Zamalek 25:30 (13:16)

Women’s Competition
5-8 Placement Round: HC Vainqueur vs Dynamique 20:28 (8:13)
5-8 Placement Round: Africa vs Heritage 24:21 (13:10)
Semi-Final: Petro vs FAP 24:16 (14:6)
Semi-Final: ABO Sport vs Primeiro 13:22 (10:11)

Saturday 27 October
Rest Day

Sunday 28 October

Men’s Competition
3/4 Placement Match: GSP vs JSK 33:31 (16:13)
Final: Al Ahly vs Zamalek 25:27 (11:13)

Women’s Competition
3/4 Placement Match: FAP vs ABO Sport 22:27 (13:14)
Final: Petro vs Primeiro 21:25 (12:17)

FINAL RANKING

Women’s Competition
1. Primeiro
2. Petro
3. ABO Sport
4. FAP
5. Africa
6. Dynamique
7. Heritage
8. Vainqueur
9. Bandama

Men’s Competition
1. Zamalek
2. Al Ahly
3. GSP
4. JSK
5. Raja Agadir
6. FAP
7. Red Star
8. Phoenix
9. USFA

Photo: CAHB