Men Top 3

1. Police (Rwa) 4pts (16 goals)2. Black Mamba (Ken) 1pt (-7 goals)3. APR (Rwa) 1pt (-9 goals)

Women

1. Nairobi Water (Ken) 4pts (31 goals)2. ES Mukingi (Rwa) 2pts (-13goals)3. UR-CE (Rwa) 0pt (-18 goals)

Rwanda’s Police handball club (men) and Kenya’s Nairobi Water (women) have won the 2015 East and Central Africa Handball Federation (ECAHF) tournament which concluded on Friday at Kimisagara youth sports center.

The 27th edition of the regional tournament attracted a total of six clubs from hosts Rwanda, who entered four teams (two in each gender) and Kenya which was represented by one club in each category.

Teams in each category played against each other on a round-robin basis and the team the finished top were crowned champions.

In the men’s category, Rwanda’s Police handball club claimed the title after finishing with 4 points and scored 16 goals, followed by Kenya’s Black Mamba (1 point) and a deficit of 7 goals while APR also finished with one point and a deficit of nine goals.

Police head coach Antoine Ntabanganyimana expressed his delight after winning the regional title for the first time, "We deserved to win this title because we had prepared well and we also played well all our games, it’s a great feeling to me and my boys as well as the entire Rwanda National Police.”

Meanwhile, defending champions Nairobi Waters retained the women’s crown after finishing top with 4 points and a huge total of 31 goals, Rwanda’s Ecole Secondaire Mukingi took second spot with 2 points and a deficit of 13 goals while University of Rwanda College of Education finished third without any point a deficit of 18 goals.

Jack Hebert, the Nairobi Water coach, congratulated his side for successfully defending their title and praised Rwandan teams for their effort.

"There are very good teams but they seem to lack enough experience and most of their players are still young although they are understand the game,” he explained.

Last year’s champions in the men’s category, DR Congo’s Police didn’t come to defend their title. Next year’s edition will be staged in Nairobi, Kenya.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw