Mauritania’s capital city Nouakchott hosted the IHF Trophy Africa - Zone II tournament last week, which featured national teams from Cape Verde (CPV), Gambia (GAM), Guinea-Bissau (GBS), Guinea (GUI), Mali (MLI), Senegal (SEN), Sierra Leone (SLE) and hosts Mauritania (MTN) across two age categories – Junior (born on or after January 1, 1998) and Youth (born on or after January 1, 2000).

 

Seven teams took part in the junior section and eight in the youth with both competitions featuring two preliminary groups each and the top teams in each going straight through to the semi-final stage. All games were played across the two venues of the ‘Institut Supérieur de la Jeunesse et des Sports’ and the ‘Nouvelle Maison des Jeunes’.

 

In the junior competition, Senegal and Mali finished in the top two positions of Preliminary Group A, while Guinea and Cape Verde were the two best teams in Group B. All four teams went straight to the semi-finals with Guinea overcoming Cape Verde and Senegal beating Mali. In the bronze medal match the following day, Cape Verde were able to take bronze, beating Mali 30:20, while in the first of two Senegal vs Guinea finals, Senegal easily overcame Guinea 35:24 to win the competition and book their ticket through to the continental finals.

 

It was not to be two titles for Senegal though as the Guinea youth team beat them 26:22 in the final after host nation Mauritania had taken bronze against Guinea-Bissau 39:32. The previous day had seen Guinea beat Mauritania in the semi-finals, while Senegal overcame Guinea-Bissau. Senegal and Mauritania had finished in the top two spots of the Preliminary Group A to reach the final four, while Guinea and Guinea-Bissau achieved the same in Preliminary Group B.

 

IHF Trophy Africa - Zone II, Final Ranking

 

Junior

1 Senegal (SEN)

2 Guinea (GUI)

3 Cape Verde (CPV)

4 Mali (MLI)

5 Mauritania (MTN)

6 Sierra Leone (SLE)

7 Gambia (GAM)

 

Youth

1 Guinea (GUI)

2 Senegal (SEN)

3 Mauritania (MTN)

4 Guinea-Bissau (GBS)

5 Mali (MLI)

6 Sierra Leone (SLE)

7 Gambia (GAM)

Cape Verde: no ranking

 

The youth team of Cape Verde competed in the tournament. However, as they did not meet all requirements as outlined in the IHF Regulations in terms of registration of players, their results are not taken into consideration.

 

Both Senegal (Junior) and Guinea (Youth) will advance to the IHF Trophy Continental Phase, with the winners of the IHF Trophy Intercontinental Junior Championships earning an automatic spot at the 2019 IHF Men’s Junior World Championships in Spain.

 

In 2019, the IHF Trophy will be for junior and youth women with the same format and qualification potential for the following years’ IHF Junior World Championships (2020). The IHF Trophy will then continue to alternate between men’s and women’s competitions each year.

 

In addition to the games, the IHF also conducted referee and coaching clinics, as is standard practice at all IHF Trophy competitions.