Rwanda finish sixth at African junior handball meet

FridayRwanda 35-24 Mali (6/7 position)SaturdayGuinea 36-16 Rwanda (5/6 position)RWANDA Under-19 Handball team finished sixth out of seven countries after losing to Guinea in 5/6th place classification match of the just concluded African Women’s Junior Handball Championships held in Oyo, Congo Brazzaville.Debutants Rwanda managed to win only one out of four matches played in the competition, a 35-24 victory against Mali in 6th and 7th position classification match on Friday.On Saturday, the East African sole representatives were beaten 36-26 by Guinea in the playoff for the fifth position.Rwanda, who were drawn in Group A alongside Angola and DR Congo, lost to both group matches 58-11 and 46-17 to 2011 finalists Angola and DRC respectively. Algeria was supposed to be the fourth country of the group but they withdrew from the competition.Speaking to Times Sport from Oyo, the Rwanda Handball Federation’s Secretary General Alfred Twahirwa said, “We lost to the better teams but generally, competing in the African championship is a valuable experience for us.”“The target was to reach the semi-finals and qualify for the next year’s World Junior Championship but we failed to achieve it, nonetheless, the players did their best but the opponents were just stronger and better prepared,” he stated.By press time, Angola and DR Congo, who progressed from group A, were due to face-off in the final, while defending champions and hosts Congo Brazzaville were to take on Tunisia for the 3/4th place play-off battle.The four semi-finalists; Angola, DR Congo, Tunisia and Congo Brazzaville will represent Africa at the 2014 World Junior Championships which will be hosted by Brazil.

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Rwanda finish sixth at African junior handball meet