By Daily Sports Nigeria on March 18, 2025

Nigeria’s U-18 men’s 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.

The team led by Emeka Nnamani went into the match determined to avenge an earlier defeat against the hosts in the preliminary stage 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.

Nigeria went into the second half of the match outscoring their host and were even leading 26-24 less than three minutes to the end of the match as Christian Foloki and Mustapha Mohammed combined for 13 goals but they couldn’t hold their own as the host scored two quick goals to force overtime with the help of Amar Muqolli.

During the overtime, the hosts, 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, 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.

Victory would have qualified Nigeria for the IHF Mens Youth World Championship later this year.

Source Punch Ng

Posted March 18, 2025

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