Wednesday

Rwanda 34-52 Guinea

Rampant Guinea U20 proved too good for Rwanda U20 who lost their first match at the IHF Trophy Africa tournament going on in Brazzaville as they fell to a shock 34-52 defeat against the West Africans on Wednesday at Gymnase Nicole OBA.

Guinea won the first half of the game 23-15 and added 29 more in the second half against Rwanda's 19 to take home a comfortable win.

Rwanda, who are competing in the junior category, won their first two games at the tournament as Antoine Ntabanganyimana’s boys ran riot with a convincing 50-29 victory over Madagascar on in Monday's opening game before they clinched their second game on Tuesday as they narrowly defeated hosts Congo Brazzaville 34-32.

Wednesday’s defeat made Rwanda to wait for yet a little bit to qualify for the Intercontinental Phase of the Men's IHF Trophy, which will take place in Costa Rica in March 2023 as long as the make no mistake during their upcoming fixtures including Thursday clash with Nigeria before concluding their tournament Zimbabwe on Friday, January 20.

Rwanda is among six junior (U20) participants taking part at the five-day tournament in Brazzaville. Other countries represented include host nation Congo Brazzaville, Guinea, Madagascar, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.