The 23rd edition of the CAHB (African Handball Confederation) African
Men’s Championships will take place in Gabon from 16-28 January 2018 and
the draw took place on 3 November in Libreville to decide the preliminary round
groups after the original draw date (October 13) was postponed.
10 teams will contest for regional continental honours with Group A seeing
Gabon (GAB) face Tunisia (TUN), Algeria (ALG), Cameroon (CMR) and Congo (CGO)
while Group B contains Egypt (EGY), Angola (ANG), Morocco (MAR), DR Congo (COD)
and Nigeria (NGR). The host nation will face Congo in the opening game of the
tournament.
Egypt will be looking to defend their title, having won on home soil
in 2016, beating Tunisia 21:19 in the final, although Tunisia hold the record
for the most championships, with nine in their account.
As well as the continental title on offer, three places at the 2019
IHF Men’s World Championship in Denmark and Germany are at stake too for the
top three sides in Africa who will then look towards the 2020 African
championships which will take place in Tunisia.
"This competition will be a milestone in the history of African
handball," said CAHB President Dr Mansourou Aremou at the draw event. “With less
than three months until competition starts, the organisers are mobilised for
success – let's celebrate handball together.”
Alongside the draw, the African Handball Confederation also
conducted an inspection tour of venues in Libreville with the delegation
visiting both competition and accommodation sites including the Oloumi Sports
Hall and Prytanée Militaire Libreville – a Gabon armed forces school.
The flagship venue for the competition is currently under
construction, with the 6,000-capacity ‘Palace of Sport’ multi-sport venue
set to be completed by its Chinese construction company at the end of 2017. “A jewel
dedicated to African youth,” was how Aremou described it upon visiting.
Dr Aremou was also received by the Gabonese Minister of Sports,
Tourism and Leisure, Mathias Otounga Ossibadjouo on the visit, with the
minister keeping a close eye on the venue construction to ensure it is
completed on time for the December test event and then handed over fully on the
eve of the tournament.
That tournament, in just over two months, is set to be the
culmination of an interesting nine months for Gabonese handball after Jackson
Richardson, the 1995 IHF World Handball Player of the Year, IHF World
Championship double gold medallist and Olympic bronze medallist signed a
two-year contract back in April to take over as Head Coach of the Gabon men’s national
team, assisted by Pablo Morel, former coach of Issy-Paris.
2018 CAHB African Men’s Championship – Preliminary
Group Draw Results
GROUP A
Tunisia (TUN)
Algeria (ALG)
Cameroon (CMR)
Congo (CGO)
Gabon (GAB)
GROUP B
Egypt (EGY)
Angola (ANG)
Morocco (MAR)
DR Congo (COD)
Nigeria (NGR)
For further information about handball in Gabon and Africa, please
visit the African Handball Confederation (CAHB) website at www.cahbonline.info.
Photo: CAHB