Nigeria's Under 18 Men Handball team finished second at the IHF Trophy's Intercontinental Phase following a 34-30 loss to Kosovo after overtime in the final of the competition on Sunday in Pristina, Kosovo
A tough match indeed, the team led by Coach Emeka Nnamani went into this match with determination to avenge an earlier defeat against the host in the preliminary stage and prepared quite adequately thus but they were limited by a resolute defense of Kosovo and despite scoring vital goals, they settled for a pulsating 13-13 in the first half.
The Second part of the match, Nigeria went into the match outscoring their host and was even leading 26-24 less than three minutes to the end of the match as Christian Foloki and Mustapha Mohammed combined for 13 goals leading to the lead but they couldn't hold their own as the host scored two quick as the clock was winding down to force an overtime with the help of Amar Muqolli. And after the Overtime of 10 minutes (5 minutes for each halves), the host, encouraged by their fans won the match 34-30 to be crowned champion of the IHF Trophy's Intercontinental Phase.
USA finished third, with a 36:34 win in the bronze medal match against Uzbekistan
Nigeria’s Mustapha Mohammed was the top scorer of the competition, with 43 goals, followed by two Kosovo players, Amar Muqolli (30 goals) and Granit Kadiri (29 goals).
This is the second time that Nigeria will lose in the final; the first in 2019 against Chinese Taipei. They also finished third in the 2023 edition as well. If victory would have qualified Nigeria for the IHF Mens Youth World Championship later in the year.
5th IHF Emerging Nations Championship: Nigeria Lose To USA In Third Place Match.
Nigeria's Under 23 Men Handball team lost to the United States of America 31-28 in the third place match of the 5th IHF Emerging Nations Championship in Varna, Bulgaria.
The Coach Solomon Yola's tutored team had played a pulsating 31-31 draw against USA in the opening match of the competition and at the time the USA, arguably the most experienced team in the competition, had an 18:12 lead at the break, only to falter and save a draw late in the match, 31:31.
In this third place match, it was pretty much same in the first half with USA taking an early lead and Nigeria somehow managing to hover around, despite their scoring efficiency plummeting throughout the start of the match. USA Goalkeeper Pal Merkovszky also helped the USA build this lead as he made some vital saves.
As in their previous matches, the African side – which secured the best finish for any African side at the IHF Men’s Emerging Nations Championship – had their teething issues in the first half, being easily outplayed by their opponents but slowly they got back into their elements as right back Faruk Yusuf, right wing Kareem Ajibike and John Shagari especially helped the team. Shagari in the last 13 minutes of the first half scored four times and dished three assists to help a struggling Nigeria have a respectable 19-14 loss in the first half.
The USA had a better shooting efficiency and converted 83% of their shots, while Nigeria had a 61% shooting efficiency after 30 minutes.
In the second half, Lukas Hansen and Jonas Stromberg combine to score 10 goals while Amar Amitovic and Andrew Donlin – USA’s top scorers in the first four matches – had five goals between them, as USA opened the second half with two consecutive goals to extend their lead.
Nigeria's Faruk Yusuf did his best to counter the USA, scoring 13 goals and taking his overall tally in the competition to 40 goals, the second best in the competition, but it was too little, too late and nothing that could really impact the outcome of the match as they lost 31-28.
Nigeria finish fourth in this competition as against the previous two 7th place finishes they had in
Meanwhile, Great Britain defeated host Bulgaria 29-25 to be crowned champion of the 5th IHF Emerging Nations Championship.
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