Nigeria win bronze at Africa Women’s Youth Handball Championships

Nigeria defeated Angola 28-24 in the third-place match on Saturday to finish third at the 2023 Africa Women’s Youth Handball Championship in Monastir, Tunisia.
Having lost the semi-final game against Egypt, the national U-18 women handball team knew they needed to play with their hearts out to finish as the third-best team at the championship, and they started like a house on fire, playing with a lot of determination, as they won the first half 12-7.
The Angolans, who were one of the favourites to win the competition, came back smoking in the second half, but Shittu Adewunmi Agboola’s team held strong to win the match 28-24 and bag the bronze medal, claiming the scalp of a big team in African women’s handball.
The result qualified Nigeria for the IHF World Women’s Youth Handball Championship, which will be held in China next year, and they will also participate in the IHF Trophy Intercontinental Phase after winning the zonal and continental phases in Ghana and Ivory Coast, respectively.
After losing their second match 23-20 to Guinea, they redeemed themselves on Tuesday by defeating host Tunisia 28-20 and progressed to the quarter-finals, where they defeated Morocco 28-14 the following day to book a place in the semi-finals.
The African Women’s Youth Handball Championship is the official competition for youth women’s national handball teams in Africa, organised by the African Handball Confederation under the supervision of the International Handball Federation. It takes place every two years.
In addition to crowning the African champions, the tournament also serves as a qualifying tournament for the Youth World Championship.
The team will arrive in Nigeria on Monday.
Meanwhile, in the final match, defending champions Egypt retained their title as they comfortably defeated surprise finalists Guinea 29-16 to be crowned champions of the 2023 Africa Women’s Youth Handball Championship.