IHF Trophy Africa U-18 Men’s Continental Phase: Nigeria Brushes Aside Ethiopia, Rumps Into Semi-final Versus Cameroun
By: Chinedum Ohanusi
Nigeria’s Under-18 men’s handball team, are through to the semifinals of the 2024 edition of the IHS Trophy Africa, Under-18 Men’s Continental Phase; now at its business end, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Haven routed Zambia 36-21 in their opening game on Sunday; the Under-18 Golden Arrows on Monday, defeated host nation Ethiopia 47-31, to advance to the last four, where they will meet their counterparts from Cameroun.
The team led by Coach Emeka Nnamani, on Monday met an Ethiopian side spurred on by the home fans, but that did not deter the Nigerian players, as they continued from where they left off the previous day, scoring freely, and led 25-16, at the interval .
The host nation, Ethiopia was a much improved side in the second half, with a better shooting accuracy in the first minutes; but they were kept at bay, by Nigeria’s goalkeeper, Samuel Obabori; whose excellent performances, earned him a second consecutive MVP award, in as many games.
Obabori who also won the MVP award, in the game against Zambia, pulled one brilliant save after the other, and with the outcourt players outscoring the host nation, Nigeria easily won it 47-31; and Obabori was deservedly awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the match.
An elated Coach Emeka Nnamani praised the resilience of his team for standing tall despite playing against the host nation and their vociferous fans.
“I am very happy because we achieved our objective in the match despite playing against the host and their fans. We knew that a victory for us would give us easy access to the semi-finals and the boys did their part in actualising our tactical plan”. Coach Nnamani said.
The Nigeria versus Cameroun semi-final encounter, is scheduled for today, (Tuesday), starting from 5 pm Nigerian time.
