Nigeria’s under 20 men handball team couldn’t match the firepower of Cote’d’voire as they succumbed to a 36-31 defeat on Friday on the semi final of the IHF Trophy Africa Zone 3 Phase in Accra, Ghana.
The Coach Fidelis Obi’s side who have been high flying so far in the competition met a good match in their Ivorian counterpart but started to have unnecessary turnovers and mistakes and they suffered dearly for it right from the first half which they lost 17-15.
It became a bad day in the office for the team and despite their best efforts, they couldn’t upstage Ivory Coast who seeing that they had an advantage, didn’t look back as they defeated Nigeria 36-31.
Ivorian goalkeeper Mollou Kouassi Yannick was voted MVP for making some breathtaking saves against Nigeria.
Nigeria under 20 team will now play Benin Republic in the third place match in Saturday at 4pm while Nigeria’s under 18 team will play Benin Republic in the Youth final at 2pm.