Nine teams from five countries made their way to Honduras’ capital Tegucigalpa to compete in the IHF Trophy - Central American Zone and in the end it was Guatemala that held the upper hand in both the junior and youth tournaments, climbing the top of the podium last Saturday. 

 

In the youth tournament, the final was played between Costa Rica and Guatemala and Guatemala took their chance to take revenge. After losing their opening match against Costa Rica clearly 9:21, they turned the tables in the final, claiming a 24:21 victory. In the third-place play-off, the team of El Salvador beat hosts Honduras 29:15 and won bronze.

 

The junior competition was played on a round-robin basis. Guatemala won all their matches, thus securing their place at the top of the table, claiming gold at the end of the tournament. Costa Rica won silver, only being defeated by Guatemala (24:28), and El Salvador took bronze with two victories against Nicaragua (27:20) and Honduras (26:21). The hosts finished at the bottom of the table with zero points, as they had to admit defeat against Nicaragua (21:35).

 

Both Guatemala teams have now the chance to grab a ticket to the Intercontinental Phase as they will compete in the Continental Phase of the IHF Trophy to be held later this year.  

 

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

 

Youth Competition

 

Teams: Honduras (HON), Costa Rica (CRC), El Salvador (ESA), Guatemala (GUA)

 

CRC vs GUA 2 1:9

HON vs ESA 9:10

GUA vs HON 54:4

ESA vs CRC 18:29

ESA vs GUA 12:26

HON vs CRC 4:55

 

Bronze ESA vs HON 29:15                    

Final CRC vs GUA 21:24

 

Junior Competition

 

Teams: Honduras (HON), Costa Rica (CRC), El Salvador (ESA), Guatemala (GUA), Nicaragua (NCA)

 

CRC vs ESA 24:20

NCA vs GUA 23:26

ESA vs GUA 12:19

HON vs CRC 12:38

GUA vs HON 40:7

NCA vs ESA 20:27

HON vs NCA 21:35

GUA vs CRC 28:24

CRC vs NCA 33:31

ESA vs HON 26:21