As IHF.info announced last month the IHF Trophy African Zone VI event in Lusaka, Zambia, starting on 24 April and lasting until Saturday (28) will also incorporate teams originally in the Zone VII competition, which was moved from its original location of Madagascar.

 

The tournament in the southern African country will feature Zone VII teams from Seychelles (SEY) and Madagascar (MAD) along with Zone VI teams Lesotho (LES), Malawi (MAW), South Africa (RSA), Swaziland (SWZ), Zimbabwe (ZIM) and hosts Zambia (ZAM) in both the youth and junior competitions, although Malawi will not have a team in the junior competition.

 

The youth competition sees MAD, RSA, ZIM and SWZ in Preliminary Group A, while hosts ZAM will face MAW, LES and SEY in Group B. After all teams have played each other the top two teams in each group will go straight into the semi-finals.

 

In the junior competition, MAD, LES, ZIM and SEY will go up against each other in Group A, while ZAM, RSA and SWZ face off in Group B and, like the youth competition, the top two teams in each Preliminary Group will go into the semi-finals.

 

All games will be played at the Automotive Futsal Sports Arena and Olympic Youth Development Centre in the capital city of Lusaka and, as is the case for all IHF Trophy events, there will be coaching and refereeing workshops taking place in addition to the games.

 

The IHF Trophy has been reconfigured for 2018 onwards and now includes two age categories – Junior (born on or after January 1, 1998) and Youth (born on or after January 1, 2000). The best teams from both age categories will advance to the 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.

 

COMPETITION SCHEDULE

 

Tuesday 24 April

 

Youth Competition

14:00    RSA vs SWZ

16:00    MAD vs ZIM

18:00    MAW vs SEY

20:00    ZAM vs LES

 

Junior Competition

14:00    LES vs SEY

16:00    MAD vs ZIM

18:00    SWZ vs ZAM

 

Wednesday 25 April

 

Youth Competition

14:00    SWZ vs MAD

16:00    ZIM vs RSA

18:00    SEY vs ZAM

20:00    LES vs MAW

 

Junior Competition

14:00    SEY vs MAD

16:00    ZIM vs LES

18:00    RSA vs SWZ

 

Thursday 26 April

 

Youth Competition

14:00    ZIM vs SWZ

16:00    MAD vs RSA

18:00    LES vs SEY

20:00    ZAM vs MAW

 

Junior Competition

14:00    ZIM vs SEY

16:00    MAD vs LES

18:00    ZAM vs RSA

 

Friday 27 April

 

Youth Competition

14:00    Semi-Final 1

16:00    Semi-Final 2

16:00    Placement 7/8

 

Junior Competition

18:00    Placement 5/6

18:00    Semi-Final 1

20:00    Semi-Final 2

 

Saturday 28 April

 

Youth Competition

14:00    Placement 5/6

16:00    Bronze

18:00    Final

 

Junior Competition

16:00    Bronze

20:00    Final