MUKWIMA CHILALA writes
THE International Hand Federation (IHF) Trophy Zone VI tournament which Zambia is currently hosting at the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC) has been described as a big success as Zambia overwhelmed Zimbabwe in its first game on Tuesday.
Handball Association of Zambia (HAZ) president, Bwalya Banda, said so far the tournament could be described as a success on the part of his association who were the hosts.
Banda said that beating Zimbabwe in their first game was encouraging to his handball girls’ team.
He said that he was confident that Zambia being the host would win the tournament having also had to undergo early preparations prior to the start of the games.
Banda said that he was happy with what his technical team had done by developing the sport for the girl child because his association had been advocating for participation of girls in the sport.
He was confident that the Under-17 and Under-20 handball girls teams would emulate their male counterparts who were champions of the competition in the boys category by winning it.
“We prepared very well because we started preparations in December last year, so we expect good results,” said Banda.
Zambia started the tournament on a high, beating Zimbabwe 30-16 nets in the Under-17 category.
The games involve the U20 and U17 Handball Female teams and have been selected from ten African countries.
Some of the countries that are participating include Madagascar, Seychelles, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe Botswana, and Zambia.
The IHF is the administrative and controlling body for handball and beach handball.
IHF was founded in 1946 to oversee international competitions and is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, with its membership comprising 209 national federations.
