From 9 to
13 October, the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka hosted the IHF Trophy tournament of
the South Central Asia Zone. Seven teams participated in both the men’s and
women’s competitions and after missing the previous cycle, it was India who
claimed victories in both tournaments, coming back in force on the
international handball map.
In the
women’s tournament, the Indian girls dominated the competition from start to
finish. After they convincingly won the first three games of the preliminary
round against Pakistan, Maldives and Nepal, they faced Sri Lanka in the
semi-finals and once again showed their strength – they dominated the game from
start to finish and outclassed their opponents 50:11. In the second semi-final,
hosts Bangladesh, who also won all of their preliminary round matches against
Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, were better than Pakistan, winning clearly 38:12.
Although
the final was a duel of the best two teams, it was one-way traffic as India won
the game clearly 48:29. In the match for third place, Pakistan defeated Sri
Lanka 34:16.
In the
men’s competition, the teams followed a similar pattern. India walked through
the preliminary phase beating host Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the process. In
the semi-final, they faced Nepal and showed their strength once again winning
convincingly 52:12. The second semi-final, however, was quite an interesting
affair as Bangladesh won 35:30 after two overtimes, as the game was tied at
28:28 after 60 minutes.
In the
final, India were once again better than hosts Bangladesh, winning even more
clearly 46:25, after having a comfortable 10 goals cushion at half time. In the
bronze medal match, Pakistan beat Nepal. The results from the South
Central Zone mean that India qualify for the Continental Phase in both the
men’s and women’s competition where they join the previously qualified DPR
Korea and Thailand.
Besides the
competition, the IHF organised courses for coaches and referees. The course for
coaches was headed by Mr Alireza Habibi (IRI), while Mr Terje Anhtonsen (NOR)
was in charge of the refereeing course.
Full
results summary can be found by clicking on the link below: